Demigod Project
by Yellow-Spider
Summary: He's not a Demigod anymore- he left that aspect of his life behind a long time ago. Now he's an agent of SHIELD. With his past haunting him and the Avengers attracting trouble Percy Jackson is about to find out what it really means to be an Agent of SHIELD. Angst! Slight character bashing.
1. Chapter 1

**This is in no way, shape or form related to "Percy Jackson: Anarchy/ Dissassembled" and i know i should be updating that story but this has been on my laptop for ages- and i have a couple more chapters for it as well. This is just a short little prologue. It will be dark and angsty (like those Harry Potter/ Avenger stories where Harry is pushed out by the wizarding world) and because of this it might be OOC. **

**Prologue**

**December 21st, 2008**

The tension in the room was as thick as the snow that was falling outside. For the first time in some hours the grand throne room of the Greek gods was silent. The three brothers no longer threw petty insults at one another, the bastard children of the king no longer bickered with their step-mother, even Apollo was not listening to his Ipod. Instead, the twelve gods of Olympus looked with mixed emotions at the teenager who knelt in front of them.

The teenager had long since given up on standing. Stubborn like his father he stood and stared at each of the gods with defiance in his stunningly green eyes. For hours he had stood like that, until the sentence had been served. They had watched as his eyes widened, fists clenched, and knees shook.

"I didn't do it!" The nineteen year old had pleaded.

"The majority is against you," Lord Zeus said calmly- feeling neither pity nor sadness. "You have been found guilty of two counts of murder-"

"-I didn't do it,"

"-and for your crimes you shall be discarded from the ranks of the gods and banished from any sacred areas,"

That was when the teen's knees had collapsed beneath him. His hands had splayed open and rested against the marble. Head bowed he looked much smaller then he really was. Tears slid silently down his face as he tried to come to grips with what had just happened.

"I didn't do it," the teen repeated "I didn't kill them-"

"You are to be stripped of the Curse of Achilles, all weapons, and your camp beads," Zeus acted as if he was conversing with his wife- controlled, with anger boiling just under the surface. "You shall be marked a traitor for the rest of this life and whatever life that may follow."

It felt as if someone had dropped ice down the back of his shirt. He shuddered as he felt the small of his back flash hot and cold continuously until it finally stopped. That was just the beginning thought. A horrible burning sensation ripped across his whole back. He yelled out at the sudden pain and attempted to grip through the marble of the floor. Hot stickiness dripped down his back and stuck to his already ragged shirt.

Percy Jackson raised his head and stared at his father. Percy had always been told he had his fathers eyes, strong, defiant, and unreadable at times, but now it was the complete opposite. While Percy's swam with tears and had become bloodshot with pain Poseidon's remained cool and shut off.

"Father, please," Percy's voice cracked feebly.

Like the sea, Poseidon did not listen to the humans plea. He merely let a hint of pity leak into his ice like eyes before making it disappear as quickly as it came. Head dropping yet again he bit his lip at the agony ripping through him. But then he was falling. Falling so fast he felt as if he would never hit the ground- and if he did that he would surely break like a fallen vase on impact.

The landing wasn't soft, but it wasn't horrible either. It was an empty clearing, not even trees would grace this place with their presence. It had to be outside cam, theoint fom which he lhad left. The son of Poseidon- could he still even call himself that? - knelt on the ground once more and dug his fingers into the dirt.

"I didn't do it," Percy whispered to the empty clearing. Snow continued to fall around him- it would soon be classed as a blizzard. He shivered at the cold, fingers and toes already going numb. "I didn't do it!"

It was roared up at the sky so loud birds flew from their nests in panic. Percy flumped back against the thick snow on the ground. It quickly numbed the burning pain radiating from his back. His wrist felt light without the presence of his watch, his pocket felt empty without his pen, and his chest felt as if someone had punched a hole through it. Pain continued to ripple through him and he held back another onslaught of tears.

"Quite a fall you had there, Mr Jackson" someone said loudly over the snow.

Percy opened the eyes he hadn't realised he'd closed. Sitting up slowly he looked at the man who stood calmly in the snow. With gloved hands clasped in front of him and a long black cloak wrapped around his smaller then average form he looked as if he could be enjoying a day in Central Park.

The man continued "I hope you didn't break anything,"

"Who are you?" Percy questioned through his broken state "how do you know my name?"

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Agent Coulson said calmly.

"What?" Percy asked blearily.

"We're still working on the name. Let's just say I'm part of an interested party," Agent Coulson said with a small "We've had our eye on you for some time now, Mr Jackson. You have special abilities that have caught our interest."

"What do you want?" Percy stood up quickly, not liking being on the ground in front of a potential enemy. Always the soldier his hand reached for his favoured weapon- but he came up empty. While his heart silently missed a beat Percy tried to gather some semblance of calm.

"How do you feel about working for a government agency, Mr Jackson?"

**An update for PJ: Dissassembled can be expected tomorrow or the day after, this story will not be updated freuquently until I have finished all outstanding stories. I know I maybe shouldn't have posted it and it'll get confusing- but I seriously couldn't help it.**


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was shining on the city of New York. The usually beautiful skyline was marred by the larger then normal amount of cranes, while the harbor was filled with cargo ships laden with the materials needed to rebuild the great city. In the skyline rested Stark Towers, already on its way to being completed and remodelled. It rested empty thought. Neither Tony Stark nor Pepper Potts resided in the building at the current point in time.

Instead they were walking into the large cemetery on the outskirts of the city. The mood was sombre to say the least. Both wearing black neither dared fancy themselves up with expensive jewellery, sunglasses or fashionable hair. They were here for a funeral, not for a public appearance.

Another man stood a little away from the large crowd gathering in-between eh scattered graves. He was tall and handsome, his baby blue eyes and blonde hair gave him a rather approachable look. In a plain black suit he looked rather ill at ease.

"Rogers," Tony nodded his welcome.

"Stark," Steve Rogers nodded in return before addressing Pepper "I'm Steve Rogers, ma'am."

"Pepper Potts," She shook his hand "Tony's girlfriend."

Now wasn't the time to throw around fancy titles. The people who gathered weren't CEO's, billionaires or agents, but rather friends of Phil Coulson. It was rare to see so many agents gathered someplace that wasn't SHIELD classified. It was also dangerous. Bruce Banner arrived ten minutes later (the man had decided to stay at a reasonably priced hotel- not Stark Towers). Without a suit he had at least tried to make himself look presentable.

It seemed everyone was here. Except Thor of course. Tony scanned the crowd for the pair of master assassins, and after seeing a flash of red he followed it. Natasha broke through the crowd and walked towards the shade of an oak tree. Tony watched as she stepped into the shadows and gazed up at the branches. She spoke to someone he couldn't see- but Tony didn't need three guesses to know who. Clint Barton jumped down from the branches and straightened out his suit.

Tony watched as Natasha placed a hand on Clint's shoulder. That in itself seemed to mean a lot to the agent. They spoke for a moment longer before turning to watch as someone new joined them. The man was about 6'2 and even from a distance the darkness of his hair was evident. He must've known the two assassins well because he clasped Clint's hand before hugging him lightly and speaking to Natasha.

"Come on, everyone's taking their seats," Pepper said gently as they moved to the front row and took a seat.

Bruce and Steve sat near Tony while Natasha, Clint and the mysterious dark haired man took up the spare seats to the left. The man was in his early twenties and had hair that was neither messy nor neat. He wore a suit jacket and button up shirt that went surprisingly well with his jeans and Chuck Taylor high-tops. He had past signs of a tan and a handsome face. What threw Tony off though was his eyes. They seemed to mirror the sea, They were a deep green that flittered with emotion. Sadness, anger, guilt, nearly every dark emotion possible. For eyes so young they surely had seen too much. They looked haunted and empty- and yet at the same time alive and vibrant.

Tony was right about one thing. Percy Jackson had seen too much. He'd seen it all. Death, torture, rape, it seemed he hardly saw anything nice nowadays. As he gazed at the mahogany casket that was covered in an American flag, flowers and a framed picture of Agent Coulson he couldn't help but feel his heart break in two. After he'd joined SHIELD Phil had become his handler. They'd become close. Percy looked up to Coulson like he was a father figure. But now he was gone, just like every other father figure he'd ever had.

"_We're here today to lay to rest Paul and Sally Blofis who were taken from us to soon…_" the words echoed in his head as he stared at the coffin.

"We're here today to remember the life of Phil Coulson, who died for what he believed in," the speaker started off.

Died for what he believed in? What did Phil believe in? He believed in justice. He believed in trust. But most of all he believed in heroes.

"_Without heroes earth wouldn't stand a chance_," Phil would tell Percy.

"Agent Coulson always told me that he still believes in heroes," Fury said as he started his speech "he believes in those who are selfless and willing to take the bullet- no matter how much trouble or pain it may cause them. What Phil didn't realise was that he is a true hero. He wasn't born different, he didn't have a duty, no one killed his parents like they usually did in those comics he liked to read- but he is still a hero. What he did for his country will never be forgotten….."

The speeches went on. Percy sat in his seat and gazed at the casket. His overactive mind watched as Clint silently slid his hand into Natasha's-seeking comfort. Percy considered Clint a brother. He'd been sent on more mission with Clint then he could remember. Most of all Coulson had also been Clint's handler.

At the end of the speeches the flag was removed from the grave and folded up into a neat triangle. One of the finely dressed soldiers handed it to Phil's girlfriend who was crying silently. Then that was it. There would be gathering after. No time to gather around and talk about his stories. It was dangerous enough being in one place like this- a simple bomb could wipe out the whole of SHIELD.

"Drinks on me," Natasha stood up, hand slipping from Clint's.

"You and that crappy salary are going to pay for all of our drinks?" Tony Stark questioned "I'll pay. I know a place that's discreet."

It seemed to be some sort of unspoken agreement between the newly formed Avengers. They all stood up and stretched. Percy stood up and slowly and let his hand slip into his pocket. Natasha began following the others out of the graveyard, leaving Clint and Percy behind, staring at the grave.

"I slipped his trading cards into his pocket," Clint commented lightly.

Percy couldn't help but smile softly; "I slipped in the newest set."

"He'd like that," Clint returned the smile "you coming?"

Percy shook his head "not my place."

They began walking through the silent graveyard. Percy let his eyes travel towards the west were his parents had been buried five years ago. Averting his gaze he clenched his hands into fists as unbidden memories surfaced.

"The Avengers isn't an exclusive club you know," Clint stopped by the gates "Coulson didn't like it when you isolated yourself."

"Says the man who spends two thirds of the day in the rafters," Percy chuckled weakly "and the other third with Natasha."

Clint smiled at that "One drink."

"As long as Natasha isn't playing bartender, I'm fine," Percy remembered the last time he had let Natasha mix a drink for him. It had not ended up well.

Walking over to his bike he fished out his keys and started it up. It grumbled loudly as it jumped to life. Next to his bike was another bike, though unlike his which was a sleek new model, the other one was an older low lying model. Slipping on his jacket he watched as the one and only Captain America came and swung onto the other bike.

"Nice bike," the blonde man commented.

"You too," Percy jumped on the seat and grabbed his helmet.

"I'm Steve Rogers," the man held out hand.

"Percy Jackson," he shook the hand before slipping the helmet on. Kicking up the stand he rolled out the car park.

He followed close behind Natasha's sleek SHIELD standard car. The sun was beginning to set over the iconic city and Percy let his gaze fall to the river that moved lazily in the dying light. How long had it been since he'd swum in anything but a pool? He missed the saltiness of the sea, the sweet breeze it would bring. He couldn't swim in the water though. Not a river, a lake or an ocean. Ripping his gaze away from the water he followed Natasha into the heart of the city.

They stopped outside a bar. It looked odd next to the apartments and expensive cars. Pulling off his helmet he gazed at the sign.

_The Drunken Yank_ the sign read.

"Let's get shit faced," Clint said as he climbed out the car.

Inside looked like a traditional bar. A pool table rested in the centre of the room, while booths and stand up tables were scattered around the room.

"Trevor, my friend," Tony walked up to the bar were a middle aged man worked. Tony pulled some money out of his wallet and placed it on the bar "usual deal?"

"Of course, Mr Stark," Trevor smiled as he slid the money into the till "the bars yours."

After turning the sign on the door to 'closed,' Trevor merely left. Bruce sat down at the bar looking ill at ease.

"Found this little gem after a meeting. No one would expect the likes of me to be in a place like this," Tony jumped the bar "apple martini for Potts, Vodka for the assassins and scotch for the men. And I have no idea who you even are, but you look like a beer man."

The end of the sentence was directed at Percy. The agent blinked in surprise.

"Vodka," he corrected as he leant on the bar "the names Percy Jackson."

"Tony Stark," Tony smiled as he pulled out three tumblers and a bottle of Vodka "you a SHIELD agent?"

"Yeah," Percy picked up the glasses.

"Bring the bottle!" Clint called from were he was setting up the pool table.

"Duty calls," Percy carried everything over to the table and poured the drinks.

There was a feeling of calm around the bar. Bruce and Tony had begun talking about particle collision while Pepper had began to talk with Steve. The Rolling Stones played out of an old fashion jukebox in the corner- making the room seem lighter.

"To Phil," Clint raised his glass.

"To Phil," everyone echoed before downing their drinks (Bruce excluded, he seemed rather against drinking).

After the game of pool was finished Percy sat down at the bar and nursed a glass of Vodka. Alcohol didn't have much affect on him now. He really drank it for the taste (Vodka had an odd taste- but the burn felt nice). He was just about to crunch down on a bit of ice, but his phone began to vibrate.

Pressing it to his ear he answered. He didn't have to worry about phones now. Monsters didn't come near him- if anything they seemed to avoid him.

"Agent Jackson," he answered.

"It's Hill. We've got a situation. A Russian black market ring has gotten their hands on Chituari weapons. Our sources tell us they're selling them tomorrow. We need Romanoff to distract him while you get the weapons" Hill said and Percy frowned.

"And when did you find out about this?" Percy grumbled as he pushed his drink away.

"Two minutes ago," Hill said in a snappy reply "you and Romanoff need to come in."

"Not Barton?" Percy slipped into using last names again.

"No," Hill said "briefing is in fifteen minutes."

Hill hung up and Percy slipped his phone back into his pocket. Sidling up to Natasha he explained the situation.

"I am not in the mood," Natasha set her glass down.

"I don't think he'll accept the 'I have a headache excuse'," Clint couldn't help but smirk.

"Don't push it, Barton," Natasha said with a steely glare before beginning to walk towards the door.

"Where are you goin Romanoff? The party's just starting?" Tony asked from behind the bar.

"Unlike some people, I actually work," Natasha commented lightly.

"I take offence to that-"

But Natasha closed the door on him before he could finish. Percy grabbed his helmet and passed it to Natasha.

"We have to leave Clint the car," he took off his riding jacket then took off his suit jacket. Handing the suit jacket to Natasha he put his leather jacket back on.

Getting onto the bike he felt Natasha wrap her arms around his waist. Starting it up he pulled into the light traffic and began towards SHIELD's headquarters on the ground. It was in a rather non-descript skyscraper. This was where all the pencil pushers worked and filers worked. Percy refused to step foot on the Hellicarrier.

Walking into the building they swiped their cards and went up to Agent Hills office.

"This is Dimitiri Yelovana. He runs a small but potent black market ring in Russia that trades out of America," Hill slid the file over "he recently called for a call girl- Russian, to be exact. We need you to distract him Agent Romanoff while Agent Jackson breaks into the safe."

"You get the easy work," Percy smirked as he picked up the file.

"Like to see you seduce a guy in under ten seconds," Natasha smirked in return.

"I don't need those mental images," Percy commented lightly.


	3. Chapter 3

It hadn't taken long to break through the defences. The Russian man was staying at a pricy hotel on the upper east side. He'd rented out two whole floors worth of rooms and seemed to be doing nothing with them. Percy had easily checked into the hotel and gotten a key card for his 'room'. From there he had hacked into the elevator so it gave him access to those two floors and incapacitated the two guards standing watch.

In his ear the entire time he heard a continuous stream of Russian. Natasha had gone half an hour earlier playing the part of the Russian call girl. Dressed in a form fitting little black dress and dressed up with diamonds she played the part perfectly. It was what she was renowned for- having sex with men then killing them. She was after all the Black Widow. This time she had been told not to kill.

Percy swung his sword at his side. It wasn't Riptide- not even close. It was three feet long like Riptide- but that's where the similarities stopped. Instead of being made entirely of celestial bronze it was now a shiny grey tinted with bronze. Among mortals celestial bronze was rare- and it had taken a lot of convincing just to get what little celestial bronze was needed to make it affective on monsters. On the hilt was an engraved picture of a Kraken- his codename for high risk missions. It was heavier then Riptide and slightly off balance, but it did the trick.

"What room?" Percy asked as he sheathed his sword and looked at the bloodied agents on the floor. They weren't dead. Percy didn't kill unless it was necessary, and it rarely was.

"_Should be to your left. All the surveillance is on a loop, but you have ten minutes until the guard change over,"_ the voice of Agent Hill crackled through his ear.

Percy turned to look at the door. Seemed simple enough. Taking a step back he jerked his leg up and broke the lock easily. Pushing open the door he rested a hand on the hilt of his sword as he entered. The room was large and opened straight into a living room. Or what used to be a living room. All furniture had been pushed aside to make way for a long case and smaller files and bags.

"No safe," Percy quickly did a one over the whole room "it's just there on the table."

"_Is it a trap?" _Hills questioned.

Percy knelt by the case again and pressed his ear to it "I can't hear anything dangerous coming from within, but I'll let the other agents figure it out."

"_I'm on my way," _Natasha crackled through his ear- this time in English.

"That easy?" Percy chuckled as he knelt in front of the longest case.

"_He put up a fight," _Natasha said calmly _"a shit one though."_

"No one stands a chance against you," Percy ran his hand along the case "I can't read the files but I'm betting they only managed to get one of these suckers."

"_The team will be there in thirteen minutes. Get rid of the new batch of guards and wait for us,_" Hill ordered.

Percy stood and gazed around the room; "are minibar privileges included?"

A sigh could be heard "_whatever you eat you pay for," _Hill said with finality.

"I take that as a no?" Percy chuckled as he walked over to it anyway and smashed the glass with the hilt of his sword "oops, hand slipped, guess I'm going to have to have some now."

"_Can you ever go without eating?" _Natasha asked sarcastically.

"I don't eat in debriefs," Percy said sarcastically as he pulled out a bottle of water "I've got the room-"

There was a sudden loud crash from down the hall of the room, leading to what Percy presumed was the master bedroom. Setting the water down he gripped his sword and pressed himself against the wall.

"Possible security breach," he said into the comlink before beginning to walk silently down the hall. "10-3"

10-3 meant stop transmitting. Percy didn't want the sound of the others voices breaking whatever silence he was about to put in place. He slipped into a nook in the wall as whoever the intruders were entered.

"…I had to give up good time for this," someone whispered, a female, perhaps late teens, early twenties.

"Shut it," someone else said, a male this time "you don't know whose in here."

Percy heard the floorboards creak under the plush carpet as whoever it was stepped close to his hiding spot. In one fluid movement he stepped out and whacked the trespassers with the blunt of his blade. The teen of about sixteen dropped to the floor unconscious, blood already pooling from the newly formed wound.

"Teresa!" The other male- also a teen called out in panic- as he saw his friend collapse to the ground.

"10-67," Percy said into the comlink, signalling he was clear for messages.

"What?" The teen asked as he pulled out his own weapon, a glowing bronze sword "who are you?"

Percy looked him up and down. He looked like an average teenager. Blonde hair, blue eyes, jeans and a black shirt. Except for the sword. That sword was a dead give away.

"I should be asking you the same question," Percy tried to ignore the pang of his heart as he stepped over the girl "son of Apollo."

"What? How?" The teen stuttered. Taking advantage of his confusion Percy fainted towards the right knee before striking up and twisting his blade at the last second. It hit the teenager flat on the skull and made him collapse to the ground. The teen didn't black out though, he just seemed rather dazed.

"What are you doing here?" Percy pried the sword out of the teens hands.

The teen didn't answer.

Percy turned as he heard a commotion outside the door. Standing up he prepared for the latest bunch of guards, but instead Natasha stalked in. She had changed into her SHIELD standard outfit and seemed surprised at the teenagers.

"Teenagers," she muttered "your type?"

"Yes," Percy hit the teen with the hilt of his sword, causing him to black out "probably after the weapons."

"Why?" Natasha questioned.

"I stopped understanding the way of their kind a long time ago," Percy muttered darkly "send them back to Long Island. You don't want _them _coming after you for imprisoning their children."

Percy walked down the hall and made way for the SHIELD agents bustling in. Stepping out into the hall he sheathed the sword and entered the elevator. Natasha calmly joined him.

"Fury won't like this," Natasha pressed the button for the first floor.

"Since when does he like anything?" Percy asked sarcastically.

"That's true," Natasha stepped into the lobby that was filled with panicked guests and staff.

"That was the prostitute…." One receptionist stuttered out.

"Nice way to be remembered," Percy commented dryly as he tried to ignore the stares.

"You get used to it," Natasha walked over to the SHIELD "I think that bastard gave me a hickey."

Hill was there to great them. She did not seem pleased. Percy offered her a smile.

"I didn't even eat anything," he couldn't help but say.

"What were those two teenagers doing there?" she asked, arms folded across her chest.

"I don't know," Percy shrugged "a quest?"

"Fury wants them back where they belong. With a warning," Hill said "if they step foot near SHIELD's operations we will detain the person. No matter who they are."

"And you're telling me this, why?" Percy leant into the van and pulled out his polishing rag. Pulling out his sword he checked it over for dents before beginning to wipe it clean.

"You're the one sending them back," Hill said simply.

"Nope," Percy replied.

"Yes, you are," Hill argued "there and back. We need it written in ancient Greek and seeing as none of us are fluent."

"I can't step foot on their ground," Percy said angrily, "it's not like I can just waltz in there."

"Do it, Agent Jackson," Hill said unimpressed "we've already got them loaded up into a car for you."

"I really hate you sometimes, you know that?" Percy said childishly as he put his sword away.

"The feelings mutual," Hill returned as she chucked him the keys "Romanoff will take your motorcycle to Stark Towers and you can pick it up whenever you feel like it."

"Why there?" Percy watched as the two teens were pushed into the back of a black car.

"Apparently Barton had a little too much Vodka so he crashed at the tower," Natasha answered this time "I need to go smack some sense into him."

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Percy said sarcastically as he took out his earpiece "if I get struck by lightening for this…."

Walking over to the car he opened the door and slid in. Starting it up he began pulling out onto the street. His heart did a little flip just at the thought of going anywhere near Camp Half-Blood. He could rationalise why they sent him. He knew exactly where it was. He could write in ancient Greek for the note. He knew how to deal with these kinds of things. But he was still afraid that if he even neared the Camp they would come out and charge at him.

He let his phone go through Bluetooth and began playing some music. One of the demigods- the girl, seemingly a daughter of Demeter from her light build and features- began to stir at the sounds of the heavy bass. Percy let her gaze flicker to her in the rear view mirror.

"Di Immortals," the girl swore as she sat up. They hadn't been restrained, but that didn't mean they could do damage, "what-how-"

"Can you be quiet? My favourite parts coming up," Percy said sarcastically, making the girl jump.

"Hades," the girl swore "who are you?"

"Not important," Percy pulled onto the last stretch of road.

"Where are we going?" the girl decided to question.

"Camp," he responded icily.

"You're a half-blood?" the girl seemed to almost become calmer at the thought.

_I was_, Percy answered silently before answering out loud "No,"

"Then how do you know-"

"SHIELD knows everything," Percy cut her off and stopped the car at the base of the hill. It was too dark to see the pine but Percy knew it was there. Tall and mighty it was the boundary line to a place he once called home. Turning on the lights in the car he pulled some pen and paper from the dashboard compartment and quickly scribbled down the message in messy Ancient Greek.

"You're just letting us go?" the girl questioned.

"Think of it as a get out of jail free card," Percy said sarcastically as he cut the music and handed her the note "now out."

The girl didn't need to be told twice. She got out the car and rushed to the other side. Opening the door she tucked the note away and dragged the Apollo boy out of the car. The boy woke up slightly and became lucid enough to walk up the hill.

**This is a line break**

Percy decided to leave getting his bike until the morning. He drove back to his apartment and parked the car in the street. Heading up the stairs he made it to his apartment. It wasn't large or fancy, just two bedrooms two bathrooms. It was the apartment he had grown up in. It was his only home now.

Whenever he entered he still half expected to smell freshly baked cookies. To hear his mothers welcoming call and see the smiling faces of his makeshift family. But no- the apartment was cold. Turning on the hallway lights he kicked off his shoes and removed his jacket. The hall used to be lined with photos of camp and his mother but he had broken those in a fit of rage. Instead they now rested empty.

Resisting the urge to say '_honey, I'm home_' he headed into the kitchen and pulled out a rum and cola. Unclipping his sword he put it on the kitchen table before heading into the master bathroom. He undressed and chucked his dirty clothes in the hamper. As he turned to put the taps on he saw the reflection of his back in the mirror and looked away ashamed.

Unlike Daedalus mark Percy's was large and noticeable. It looked as if someone had tattooed a scar. It depicted a black crow holding a rose in its beak- meaning bad luck and death. Surrounding it where the words _traitor, murderer, godless_, in ancient Greek. If Percy wasn't so ashamed and angered by the mark he would've commented on what good design ideas they had.

Climbing into the shower he sat on the cool tiles and let the water beat down on him. Back on Long Island he had wanted nothing more then to walk up that hill and gaze down into the valley. To look at the now supposedly abandoned Poseidon cabin or at the stables where Blackjack stayed. Percy missed his Pegasus' and Mrs O'Leary, but they like everything else from his past, had been taken away from him because of a crime he didn't commit.

Drinking his rum and coke in the shower he let the aches from the day go away. Yet another person had dropped out of his life. First Paul and his mum, then the whole of the Greek community, and now Phil. He still had Clint and Natasha, but they were a close pair. He would just become a third wheel.

Sighing to himself he scratched at the mark absently. What he really needed was a holiday. After he had been cast out he had gone through a year of rigorous training, then he was straight into the field. He just wanted to go to Montauk and rent out the little cabin like he and his mother used to.

Turning off the tap, he finished the last of his drink and dried off. Chucking on a pair of boxers he walked towards his bed and collapsed on the covers. Within seconds he fell into troubled sleep.

"_I just feel like I'm about to snap," Percy said as he sat on the dock with his feet in the water "like I've been wound too tight."_

"_I can't blame you," Nico commented from besides him "I felt like that after Bianca. I suppose you just need to let it out somehow."_

"_I've tried," Percy rested his chin on his palm "I'm still just so angry and sad all the time."_

"_It's just a bit of depression. It'll pass," Nico said with sincerity "after what you've been through I can't blame you. Have you talked to Chiron?"_

"_He said the same as you. It'll pass. It's been a year Nico. It hasn't passed. It's getting worse. Annabeth dumped me then Tyler shows up and steals the show. Grover's avoiding me and I can feel his nervousness through the empathy link. Tyson hasn't visited or even Iris Messaged. Thalia doesn't even attempt to make conversation anymore. People are avoiding me like I'm insane." Percy vented "it makes me feel like I've done something wrong."_

"_Fuck them," Nico said proudly "they did the same to me. Just because of my father they avoided me. So I said fuck them. Let them think what they want. Those who mind don't matter."_

"_But they're all I have," Percy gazed out across the water._

"_Get away from it all. Come to Italy with me," Nico gave him a light nudge "Italian girls are cute."_

"_Thanks but no thanks," Percy stood up._

_Nico left the day after. It was the last time Percy saw him._

Groaning at the sleep induced memory Percy rolled out of bed. Gazing at his alarm clock blearily he wiped the dream from his memory. It wouldn't do any good dwelling on it. Nico wasn't dead, but rather Percy hadn't had a chance to find him. For all he knew Nico could still be Italy. Nico wouldn't want to talk to him though. No doubt Camp told them about how he 'brutally' murdered two campers.

"Fuck them," Percy echoed the words of his cousin as he headed into the shower.

He changed into his normal civilian clothes and picked up his sword. Pulling it out of the sheath he gazed at it for a moment- looking for nicks and dents- and after finding he didn't have any he slipped it into a large postage tube so it wouldn't attract attention and began walked down stairs.

In the car he chucked the postal tube on the back seat and slipped in. Pulling out he groaned at the morning traffic. It would take him forever just to reach the tower. Tapping his fingers against the wheel he absently began playing with the air conditioner controls. One of his SHIELD trainers had once wanted to put him on medication for his ADHD, calling it a security risk. Percy hadn't liked that. As odd as it sounded he liked being ADHD. He noticed things others didn't, thought faster then others, and could take in a situation faster then others.

"Thank god," Percy muttered as he finally reached the tower. Pulling into an available bay he looked at his sword on the back seat and picked it up. Keeping it in the coverage he walked into the lobby. Though it was obviously made to keep plenty of people comfortable and house a long table of secretaries and assistants, but at the moment it was empty and airy.

Taking advantage of that he pulled out his sword and clipped it onto his belt. He felt naked and vulnerable without it.

"May I be of some assistance, sir?" Someone questioned from above him. He nearly jumped out his skin but then he remembered Natasha mentioning Jarvis, Tony Starks electronic butler.

"I'm here to pick up my motorcycle," Percy spoke to thin air.

"Agent Barton is currently asleep," Jarvis said "and Mr Stark has confused them for his keys and shifted them to his garage. Shall I alert Mr Stark of your presence?"

"Yes, please," Percy commented lightly.

There was a moment of silence before Jarvis spoke again.

"If you step into the elevator it shall take you to Mr Starks garage," Jarvis opened the elevators to the right "I suggest you move quickly, Mr Stark has a knack for playing with things that aren't his."

Alarmed at that he moved into the elevator and let the doors closed. He felt it move down for a moment before opening again. It was a large room filled with more cars then Percy cared to count. Motorcycles lined the walls and Percy nearly began to drool. He turned his gaze to where Tony was kneeling next to his prized bike.

"Nice bike," Tony didn't even turn around "BMW S1000RR, didn't know that was within SHIELD's budget."

"It's not," Percy walked deeper into the room "I saved up for that baby since I was nineteen."

The billionaire turned around and eyed Percy's sword. Percy rested a hand on it self consciously.

"A sword, really?" he raised an amused eyebrow "why did Coulson always pick the weird ones?"

"A sword isn't weird," Percy checked his bike over before getting onto it and digging his left knee into the side of the bike. A thin compartment popped out and Percy moved to put his sword into it.

"Can I have a look?" Tony questioned.

Percy pulled it out and flipped it easily. Handing it handle first to the billionaire Percy watched as he skilfully checked the balance.

"How did the mission go?" Tony asked.

"Classified," Percy replied on instinct.

"I'll just break into SHIELD files then, Jarvis, get onto that" Tony shrugged as he handed the sword back "I was going to do it actually anyway. I'm rather interested in you. You actually managed to make friends with Romanoff? That had to make you some sort extremely talented fella."

Percy slipped the sword into the compartment and got off the bike.

"Do you expect me just to ignore that comment?" Percy questioned sarcastically "the director says he'll make you a cyber terrorist if you hack anymore files."

"He said that?" Tony smirked at him "I'm touched that he talks to me-"

"Where's my jacket?" Percy cut him off as he looked around. His helmet was next to the tire, but there was no sign of his jacket. "And where's Natasha?"

Tony didn't seem at all affected by the conversation change; "Here," he reached under a desk and pulled up his jacket "you get to use Romanoff's first name? Is she having sex with you _and _Barton?"

Percy blinked in surprise; "No. She's my friend."

"The Black Widow doesn't have friends. She's a lone figure. All spies are," Tony argued as he handed over the jacket.

"Not really," Percy slipped on the jacket "we do have social lives."

"Not possible," Tony said blatantly before cocking his head to the side "you're young. How did you become an agent? Did you have to go through some secret training program?"

"No," Percy grabbed his helmet "they recruited me out of high school."

"So you are human," Tony folded his arms over his chest "I thought spies were created in some super secret lab."

"I can see why Fury only wanted you as a consultant," Percy sat on his bike and wiped the visor of his helmet.

"I take offence to that," Tony glared at him.

"You're supposed to," he started up the bike and let it warm up. A garage door slid open cleanly in the wall.

"Agent Jackson files are to secure for non-mainframe connected entrance," Jarvis chimed in.

"How is that possible?" Tony said surprised "I can get in Barton's files but not yours?"

"I'm special," Percy cocked a smile before slipping on his helmet. Giving a mock salute he kicked up the kick stand and steered out of the basement garage and up onto the New York street.

Sipping in between traffic he stopped outside his favourite diner and removed his helmet.

"Morning, Mr Jackson," the peppy young sever who worked mornings chimed as she saw him enter "the usual?"

"You know me to well, Becky," Percy chuckled as he sat down at a booth.

Seeing as he failed greatly at cooking he survived off diner and microwavable food. He found the little diner calming and welcoming. SHIELD said it was best to avoid habits but Percy still came nearly everyday for the pancakes. They tasted like his mothers. Oh god, how he missed his mothers cooking. Percy just missed his mother- everything she would do, how understanding she was, the way she would look at him with those clear eyes and suddenly he knew everything would be okay.

Gazing out the window he discreetly looked as the door jingled- signalling the entrance of another customer. His blood turned to ice as he looked at the women. Tall with long honey blonde hair she had the body of a Californian cheerleader, but her vivid grey eyes gave her way.

"Coffee?" Becky questioned as she came up to his table.

Percy watched as Annabeth Chase and the tall brunette man took a seat in a booth near the door. She had his back to him but Percy still couldn't get the image of her face out of his head. Oh gods, how long had it been? How long had it been since that faithful day that she told him _'it isn't working'? _

"Mr Jackson?" Becky questioned.

"Something just came up, sorry Becky," Percy grabbed his helmet.

"_You're just like Luke. You gained my trust them broke my heart in two. How could kill them Percy?" _it echoed within his head, making his heart ache.

"I have some papers due," Percy covered quickly as he stood up "sorry."

As bad as it sounded Percy had been trained for situations like these. How to be seen and yet not observed. Keeping an even stride he didn't even flicker a glance at his teenage love. Pushing open the door she knew he looked when the bell tingled. In seconds though he had his helmet on and was at his bike.

As he swung onto it he gazed through the window. The man Annabeth was with seemed to be attempting to catch her attention but the women wasn't getting into it. She gazed at Percy with narrowed eyes like she was trying to figure out who he was. As he swung onto his bike and started it up she seemed to shake her head and turn back to her conversation. Percy pulled out of his spot and began driving aimlessly on the road.

He didn't know what he was more upset about. The fact that he had seen Annabeth for the first time in around five years, or the fact he didn't get his pancakes.

**Last update for this week so I made it longer. **_**Disassembled **_**will be updated tomorrow **_**(Australian Time)**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Just some ages and a brief time line of Percy's life so you don't get confused.**

**Death of Sally-Paul: Percy was 18 1/2**

**Annabeth Breaking up with him: 19**

**Kicked out: 19 ¼**

**Age Now: 23 (it's placed before August)**

Shifting his six pack into his other hand he knocked on the door. There was the sound of the TV being muted and faint footsteps before the door was finally opened to reveal Clint. Dressed in a white singlet, a red flannel with rolled up sleeves, and simple jeans he looked like an average man. Holding out the beers as a sort of present he smiled at his friend.

"Hey," Percy said as he entered.

"Hey," Clint replied as he closed the door.

"Natasha in?" Percy asked as he walked down the hall. Clint lived in a two bedroom apartment in the upper east, about four blocks from Percy. It wasn't anything fancy (he could afford better with his salary), but like most high ranked SHIELD agents they didn't feel the need to draw attention to themselves with large apartments.

"She's coming with pizza at seven," Clint said from the kitchen.

Percy dumped his jacket off and rested his helmet on the table. Sitting down on the couch he caught the can Clint chucked at him and opened it. It had been a week since Percy's last mission with the Russian black market boss, and after a slow week of paper work and helping with New York clean up project (via SHIELD) he had another mission tonight.

"So, what's this mission?" Clint questioned as he sat down and unmuted the TV.

"You know about the attempted assassination on the Governor last week?" Percy questioned "apparently the governor still wants to attend that benefit ball for the clean up fund. Someone needs to watch him."

"I hate security gigs," Clint sighed as he sunk into the cushion "why not send in Franz or Trinity?"

Those two agents were called the 'bland band' back at base. They had been paired together for years and all of their gigs where for security or watch overs.

"Turns out Trinity got knocked up," Percy commented idly.

"By Franz?" Clint asked with a confused frown.

"By Aaron. Franz requested a new partner," Percy chuckled lightly "everyone else is dealing with paper work and file recalibration after the tesseract imploded the base."

"So they honestly sent you?" Clint snorted into his can "you'll be eating and tapping your foot like a mad man."

Percy glared at his friend playfully and felt words leave his mouth without a second thought, "apparently it was an arrow that was shot through the window. Landed just an inch away from his groin. Right between the governors legs. Apparently because it's as Fury puts it 'odder then usual' they see it as another reason to send me in."

"Why didn't you just say that at the start?" Clint questioned after some silence.

Percy felt suddenly guilty as the silence drew on "I didn't mean to say that."

"Well you did," Clint replied stonily "so explain."

Percy gripped his beer in one hand, "they're still a bit antsy. You know the lower agents don't know about the other arrow wielding freaks out there….and after what happened on the Hellicarrier-"

"I get it," Clint said shortly.

Percy wished he hadn't let his mental barriers fall. Usually he had a better grip on the things that came out of his mouth. Clint was still beating himself up internally because of what he had done under Loki's control. Percy and Natasha had tried to dig him out of the hole, and for all it was worth Clint acted like he was back up on level ground, but eventually everyone had to show some cracks.

"So they think it was a half blood," Clint said finally.

"Not many other people with bow an arrow skills like that for hire," Percy muttered awkwardly "they think I can recognise them- if they even turn up."

"Fury doesn't get that you want to leave that behind, does he?" Clint kicked his feet up on the table and grabbed the remote.

Percy shook his head before arching his neck to stare at the ceiling, "not like I can tell him no."

"You've been quieter this week," Clint commented "is it because of the teenagers at the hotel?"

That was something Percy had trouble doing. He couldn't turn the conversation around like other people could. He hated that. Clint, Natasha, and agents level seven or up are the only ones who knew about his life before SHIELD. Clint and Natasha were more tied into the emotional aspect though.

"I saw her," Percy said simply "at the café we go for breakfast at before meetings. She looks exactly like she used to."

Clint didn't even have to ask her name, "did she recognise you?"

"I don't know," Percy sighed wearily "I don't care. I shouldn't care."

"We need to get you in the clubs," Clint smirked.

"What would I say to them when they asked me what I did. '_Yeah, I'm part of a top secret agency that sends me out on missions that I have the possibility of dying on?" _Percy muttered sarcastically.

"You're twenty-three, get in the clubs," Clint said.

"You're young as well, I don't see you hitting the clubs."

Suddenly the door opened down the hall and the two agents turned. Natasha offered them a small smile as she walked down the hall, dressed in blue jeans and a singlet. Putting the pizza's on the table she looked at the beers in their hands.

"In the fridge?" she questioned.

"Yeah," Clint replied.

Once Natasha had entered the kitchen Percy couldn't help but smirk at Clint.

"Wonder what the reason for that is?" he sipped on his beer.

"It's never going to happen," Clint sounded almost wistful.

"What's never going to happen?" Natasha asked as she came in and sat down on one of the couches.

"House is never not going to solve a case," Percy gestured towards the TV were the character was limping around "he's like a manic genius."

"_Wilfred _is on," Natasha snatched the TV remote up "I'll be damned if I'm watching anything else."

Clint sent a small grateful smile towards Percy as he leant forward and spread out the pizza boxes. Percy grabbed himself a slice and began a new conversation with the red headed spy. Many people (mostly Tony Stark) figured that Natasha was cold and heartless. Most of the time she was cold- but heartless? Never. She was a good friend, trust worthy and painfully honest at times.

A while later he gazed at his watch and stood with a groan, "here comes four hours of hell." He said.

"Good luck," Natasha smirked "you'll need it."

"Why?" Percy grabbed his things.

"Starks going," Natasha cracked open a new can of beer "Fury roped Rogers into it as well."

"They're going to be at each others necks all night," Percy ran a hand through his hair before slipping on his jacket.

Once he left he jumped on his bike again and began riding to the venue. It was some fancy ballroom in some grand hotel. Parking his bike a little down the rode he passed through security easily with the single flash of badge. It wasn't his SHIELD badge, but rather a fake one made up by SHIELD so he could pass for a normal security guard.

In the change rooms a bustling organiser chucked his suit at him along with an ear piece. The ear piece was nothing like the usual discreet SHIELD one and it felt bulky and out of place in his ear. The suit was a simple black and white affair, nothing fancy nor interesting about it.

"You're on the second level," the organiser said to him "get going, guests will be arriving soon."

Sweeping out the change rooms he climbed up the marble steps and onto the second story. The other security fanned out and Percy took the moment of serenity to call in back to base.

"Jackson in. Clear so far. Securities covered windows, exits and entrances covered," Percy said into his phone.

"_Roger that," _the person on the other side responded _"keep the vantage point_"

Percy did he continuous walk around the balcony of the second floor as people continued to file in. The high class people of New York's society drank their champagne and scotch while they chattered away effortlessly. Percy noted that Steve arrived perfectly on time (looking rather out of place), while Tony turned up half an hour late, as if he had forgotten about the venue. No doubt from the light scowl on Pepper Potts face when she first entered on the billionaires arm, Tony had forgotten about it.

As he was making another round near the marble stairs he had to pause to make way for a pair of girls. One was a girl with deep scarlet hair and a rather frightening amount of makeup while the other had deep black hair and a naturally beautiful face.

"Watch it, hon" the dark haired one said as she passed.

That simple action gave Percy a good look at her face. She was of obvious Asian decent, most likely Japanese. She was tall and had thick ringlets surrounding her pale face. Her eyes were surrounding by pink eyeliner that matched her pink dress perfectly. For a moment Percy felt a slight need to call her beautiful or compliment her, but he quickly shook it away.

"My apologies, ma'am," Percy said the word _ma'am_ with absolute disdain. He had never been a fan of Drew Tanaka. Even in adulthood she seemed as much of an tyrant as always.

As the girls walked away, Percy pulled out his phone again.

"We have a possible suspect," he called it in "Drew Tanaka. Asian decent, black hair, pink dress, currently on the second floor."

"_Roger, we've got her,_" came the reply.

Percy hazily remembered Drew complaining about archery when at camp. Apparently she would get blisters from the strings. Could Drew be the assassin? Percy doubted it. She seemed to have favoured knife work over archery. He gazed around onto the floor once again, trying to see if there was anyone there that rang a bell.

"SHIELD doesn't pay well enough I take it," Percy heard Stark say and he turned around with a sigh.

"SHIELD pays fine," Percy replied as he continued on his rounds, hoping to shake the billionaire off his tail.

"Ahh, so this is a mission," Tony easily matched his stride.

"That's none of your business," Percy kept on walking, "shouldn't you be talking up some other billionaire?"

"I find you more interesting," Tony smirked as he sipped on some scotch.

"I'm flattered," Percy deadpanned.

"No sword tonight? Finally decided to drop the _Knights of the Round Table _façade?" Tony commented.

Percy clenched his fist, "yes, Stark, I did. Now can you go? Go pick a fight with the Captain for all I care."

"I need a new drink anyway," Tony glanced at his empty glass.

The red headed girl that had been walking with Drew walked past him. Drew was absent though. While Tony began walking away to refill his drink Percy tried to spot the daughter of Aphrodite. When he did spot her though, he didn't like what he saw. She was walking in her silver high heels on the other side of the balcony. Her hand reached for the flower hairclip that resided in her curls and Percy felt a sense of dread as he saw it transform into a bronze gilded bow.

"Get down!" Percy yelled as loud as he could.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Stark instinctually drop down. The others guards turned to him as if waiting to see what he would do. Pulling out his gun he made unsteady aim on Drew and fired off one shot. Percy had never been one for aim though. The bullet went stray and shattered a vase just to the left of her.

Other guards began firing but Drew already had the arrow knocked on the string. Percy ran as fast as he could towards the daughter of Aphrodite, and watched as if in slow motion as the arrow was loosed from the string. He tackled her just as the arrow was released and he swore mentally.

"Someone call an ambulance!" he heard someone on the lower floor shout.

Percy looked down at Drew, surprised by the lack of struggle. It didn't take him long to figure out why though. Blood was soaking through his suit pants and pooling on her pink dress. Her eyes were slightly out of focus and her breathing had already begun to become laborious. It was a bullet wound to the stomach, she wouldn't last long.

"Drew," Percy tapped her cheek slightly "Drew."

Her glazed eyes gazed around her as if trying to focus. Unfortunately when they did, it was on her dress.

"This is designer…." She sighed in a soft voice.

"Drew, stay with me," Percy got off her and pressed his hands against her stomach in an attempt to stop the blood flow. Other security members waited around, waiting to see what would happen "get the guests out of here and secure the perimeter, I've got this." He ordered them.

They didn't want to move and Percy reached behind with bloody hands and pulled out his SHIELD badge. Flashing it in one of the guards face he repeated the orders again.

"Go!" he shouted.

Chucking the badge down on the floor he put his hands back on the wound. If it didn't hit the stomach they could get her in an ambulance and to the hospital in time to save her. If not…

"Drew, stay with me," Percy repeated "tell me why you did it. Tell me what happened. Just keep talking."

"W-w-w-what," she stuttered out in a shaky breath, "w-w-w-what happened?"

"You were shot," Percy figured she was going into shock "I just need you to stay awake okay?"

"Do I know you?" Drew questioned, eyes fading in an out of focus.

"No," Percy gazed around and suddenly locked eyes with Captain Rogers. Dressed in a suit he looked rather out of place and awkward in the current situation.

"I do," Drew breathed "I can't forgot eyes like those, hon."

"What can I do?" Rogers finally decided to ask.

"Find out where that ambulance-" Percy suddenly swore as he felt as if his hands and knees were being burnt with acid. Beneath him Drew screamed so loudly Percy could almost feel her pain. As the pain intensified in his hands and legs he had no choice but to push away.

"Percy," Drew said in a painful moan.

Percy risked a glance at his still burning hands. Blood pulled in the probably third degree burns and he swore profusely in every language he knew. Despite the pain he still moved forward into the pile of visibly sizzling blood and gripped Drew's hand as she whimpered painfully. Percy may not have liked Drew at Camp, but he just couldn't leave her as she basically visibly burned to death in front of him.

"Make it stop," Drew whimpered.

Percy dug out his phone and chucked it towards the Captain; "go to the contacts and call Fury now. Tell him to get the chemical division, some agents and whatever lab squints available down here right now."

"Make it stop," Drew whimpered again. Percy could see her skin begin to almost bubble and burn before his eyes. "Just kill me."

"I can't do that," Percy said softly as he listened to Steve making the call.

"Please," Drew whimpered. It was the whimper that wormed its way into his soft spot. How much pain must she had been in? She seemed to be burning from the inside out. Pulling out his gun he pressed the barrel against her head gently. But before he could even pull the trigger he felt her hand grow slack in his and slide from his burnt grasp.

"Drew?" Percy dropped the gun on the ground and pressed his burnt finger tips against her neck. There was no pulse.

A medical team was just making their way up the stairs and Percy waved them away.

"Don't send anyone up here, this a biohazard zone," Percy stepped away from the body and glanced down at himself. It seemed like every place Drew's blood had touched was no severely burnt. Swearing some more he glanced at the Captain who was awkwardly holding his phone.

"He said to tell you protocol Omega-Brian is in affect?" It sounded more like a question then a statement.

That meant they were sending out the largest biochemical team available along with agents to secure the area. Percy nodded and sat down. With burning finger tips he grabbed a shard of the broken vase and cut away the damaged material of his clothes.

"Mary mother of Jesus," Steve breathed as he saw the extents of the burns "why did you send the team away?"

"Biochemical hazard," Percy gritted his teeth, "you have to go."

"I can't just leave you like this," the Captain nimbly avoided the puddle of blood but paused by Drew's face. He hesitantly knelt down and gently closed her eyes. The upmost respect of which he did it surprised Percy. He then stood up and shook his hand. Percy didn't see any burns though.

"Let's see what we can do about these," Steve said nervously as he knelt next to Percy, "I'm not very well trained in the medical field."

"You have to cover them," Percy was managing to get a grip on the pain, "that'll last until SHIELD gets here."

Steve ripped off parts of his own jacket and tied them around the burns on Percy's knees. It took only about five minutes for SHIELD medicals teams to show up. One of the larger medics hefted a hand under his armpit and pulled him to his feet.

"Right, will water get this done?" This was the usual medic who took care of Percy when he was injured on a mission. He was a man of about thirty-five called Carl. He was deeply fascinated in Percy's healing ability and had become his primary doctor.

"Possibly," Percy glanced at Drew's body, watching as medics and agents attempted to find a way to move her without sustaining burns.

In a SHIELD van outside Carl pressed salt soaked bandages onto the wounds. Almost immediately the pain began to ease. He was taken to SHIELD headquarters and he limped to his small quarters and placed new salt bandages on his wounds. Usually they would be healed by now, but it seemed to be moving stubbornly slow.

In the morning he awoke at eight. His wounds had healed without a scar and but the affected areas still tingled like they where still healing. After a shower and getting changed he walked down the halls to where he knew the SHIELD morgue labs where. What happened to Drew wasn't normal- even for a Demigod.

Drew lay on a slab of cold metal in the centre of the even colder room. A sheet was pulled up across her breasts, leaving only the top of her shoulders and head out. Her once beautiful face now looked like it had been set on fire, but her black locks of hair still remained. Percy was surprised to find Dr Bruce Banner standing over her, holding a slide up to the harsh fluorescent light.

"Doctor," Percy said in welcome and Banner jumped slightly.

"I didn't hear you come in," he commented as he set the slide down.

"I get that a lot," Percy glanced at Drew's mangled face. The confusion and raw emotion must've been evident on his face, judging from Banner's question.

"Were you two friends?"

"No," Percy put his hands in his pocket "we used to loathe each other."

"Is she an agent? The director won't tell me much," Bruce questioned politely.

"I don't know what she was," Percy wondered briefly if responsibility to make a burial shroud would fall on him- but he quickly shook the thought away. "Do you know what happened to her?"

"Judging from little I can see without a lab, I would have to say some sort of extremely intricate acid in her blood," He held the slide up again, "I better be going. The director wants a report on whatever did this to her as soon as possible."

Percy just nodded and watched as the doctor left. Pulling out his wallet he looked at the contents and slid out five of the biggest bills had in there.

"I hope you still like Italian suits, Charon," Percy stared at the money and watched as it seemed to melt away. "I take that as a yes."

**Sorry if Drew was a bit OOC**


	5. Chapter 5

**To the anonymus reviewer who said Natasha's last name is **_**Romanova **_**not **_**Romanoff**_** you're right. In the comics her name is Romanova, but in the movies they adapted it to Romanoff/Romanof.**

Tony didn't like not knowing. He had to know everything about everyone. He'd hacked into SHIELD's files more times then he liked to count just to get the information he needed. Tony could get into any file he wanted.

Except Percy Jackson's.

"Why would you need clearance that high?" Tony muttered to himself as he decided to do things the old fashion way. Old fashioned for him at least. "Jarvis, search all school records for Percy Jackson. Hmm, between early nineties and 2008."

"Right away," Jarvis chimed immediately.

"How's it going, Jolly Green?" Tony asked his 'science bro', Bruce.

The slides of flesh that came from the assassin Drew Tanaka where spread out in front of the doctor. Among the flesh was blood, muscle, hair and nail slides as well. The girl had burnt to death from the inside with an acid so potent it would possibly be able to eat away steel. How it got in her system though was unknown. The job to find out had fallen onto Bruce Banner's shoulders.

"I can't identify the acid. Every single thing I've tested would've needed to be surgically placed in her, swallowed, or injected. Even then it would've taken a mere minute to kill her. The only explanation is that someone gave it to her after she was shot," Bruce took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Could be Agent Jackson. Maybe Lancelot doesn't want people sharing his secret," Tony said with a cheeky grin.

"What secret-" Bruce paused for a moment, "-did you just call him Lancelot?"

"Knights of the Round Table? All good and mighty Lancelot who got down and dirty? It's my nick name for him. And think about it, he knew her. Knew her by name and she knew him," Tony rolled back over to his work bench "as soon as Jarvis finishes the scan I should be able to dig up some dirt on him."

"Or maybe he's just a SHIELD agent," Bruce sighed at his new friends antics.

"Impossible. He's friends with Romanoff, and no one is friends with her unless they're as soulless as her or her sex buddy," Tony said without missing a beat "Also he carries a sword. It certainly isn't something ceremonial, we're not British or in the middle ages. So he has to have an origin story. You know like how Superman comes from Krypton, Batman's parent's were killed, Barton was part of sideshow circus…..I want to know why he fights with a sword."

"Sir, there are no school files for Percy Jackson, shall I widen the search range?" Jarvis chimed in.

"No, he's a New Yorker born and bread," Tony muttered as he thought.

"Percy can be short for Perseus or Percival," Bruce added from his work bench.

"I took the liberty for searching that name as well. No records exist in any New York school," Jarvis explained "shall I search birth, death and newspaper records?"

"You know me to well," Tony said as he wheeled back to his desk, "have you thought about inserted acid capsules?" Tony asked Bruce.

"They would have to be placed near an major artery to spread that quickly. It's a possibility, but not very plausible in the given situation," Bruce explained.

"There are no birth or death records for anyone in New York in the age parameters. The only thing I could find was a news paper clipping from 2007," Jarvis said.

"Read it," Tony ordered as he peered at an anti-tank missile that was lying around.

"_Death of Beloved English Teacher Shocks Neighbourhood,_" Jarvis began.

"Sounds sappy, skip to the good bit," Tony said carelessly.

"_His step-son and student Percy Jackson had this to say 'Paul was great….he was a father every one wished for_."

"That's it?" Tony asked surprised "SHIELD did a thorough clean up and yet managed to miss that? Search Paul Blofis."

"Maybe it wasn't SHIELD who did the clean up. Maybe he changed the file himself, like you did," Bruce said- referencing to the lack of information on Afghanistan in his friends file ( a file he had checked out privately while looking for the Tesseract).

"Possibly," Tony frowned.

"Search complete," Jarvis said as a screen appeared in front of Tony.

Tony read it briefly "Search Sally Jackson," he muttered as he read.

"I don't see why you're so interested in it," Bruce muttered with a sigh.

Another screen popped up with the information on Sally Jackson- a women he guessed to be Percy's mother. Tony frowned some more as he read. Jackson's real father lost at sea, his mother then married a seemingly lousy fat man, then this man Paul. The agents first step-dad he suddenly 'disappeared' one day.

"Nothing on a son," Tony muttered.

"Mr Stark," he heard Pepper say from the elevator.

"Oh Christ," Tony muttered without turning around. If she was calling him_ Mr Stark _it was either something to do with work or he was about to get told off.

He personally hoped he was getting told off.

Swiping away his screens he turned in his chair to face his red headed assistant/CEO. Dressed in a slimming pencil skirt and ruffled blouse she looked angelic. Though she looked stunningly beautiful he couldn't help but let his eyes trail to the women walking behind her.

Dressed in a teal pencil skirt and grey blouse she looked like a model. Her golden blonde curls were held back by a hair tie and her piercing grey eyes were bright and intelligent. The only thing that wasn't business like about her was a beaded necklace that rested against her neck- though the college ring on it added a slight at of class.

"I called for strippers at three," Tony said playfully as he watched Bruce pile away the slides out of the corner of his eyes.

"Very funny Mr Stark," Pepper said as she looked at her Blackberry, "this is Annabeth Chase, the architect the firm sent over."

"I thought we were designing it ourselves?" Tony said as he stood and wiped his hands on a rag.

"We?" Pepper scoffed, "_we _don't have the time at the moment. She comes highly recommended."

"Well, I suppose I get the best of both worlds then," Tony stuck out a hand "Tony Stark."

"Annabeth Chase," she replied with a firm hand shake, "Ms Potts said you're looking to renovate your old manor?"

"Yes, indeed I am," Tony sat down and gestured to a spare seat "have a seat."

"Don't you think you should take this upstairs?" Pepper sighed.

"We're good here, aren't we, Miss Chase?" Tony asked playfully.

"It's alright, Miss Potts," Annabeth gave a beaming smile, "I'll only be here for a moment."

"Then lets get it done, shall we," Tony stood up and pulled out another chair for Pepper who sat gratefully.

"I just need your basic floor plans, lists of likes, preferences, deadline, and what you would like preserved," Annabeth said, obviously in her comfort zone.

"One moment," Tony brought up a holographic screen and typed a few things in before pulling out a USB. Plugging it into his desk he tapped his foot for a moment before pulling it out "there you go."

"That's certainly handy," Annabeth took it and slipped it into her purse "that's all I need from you today, Mr Stark."

"I have the paper work ready upstairs," Pepper stood up.

"Wonderful," Annabeth gave an almost unsteady smile as if she were dreading the paper work.

They walked over to the elevator and Tony smirked at Bruce with raised eyebrows. The scientists was staring hard at the blondes back- as if he was trying to identify her. The elevator dinged in and the pair stepped aside for the person standing within.

Tony didn't know if he was imagining things but the blonde architect and the agent seemed to pause to look at each other as they passed. Agent Jackson seemed to compose his face for a moment before taking a longer step. Annabeth on the other hand was gently ushered into the elevator by Pepper. When Annabeth turned around the look of surprise and….hurt? on her face was shocking.

"Who is that?" Tony barely heard Annabeth ask as the doors begun to slide shut.

"An acquaintice of Mr Stark-" Pepper's reply was cut off as the doors closed.

Agent Jackson seemed to stare at the closed doors for a moment longer. It looked like he was trying to stop himself from going over to the elevator. After one more second he turned around with a schooled expression- or what he must've thought was a schooled expression.

But yet again, his eyes gave him away. They were showing hurt and longing. Those emotions were hard to hide.

"I thought you got burnt by acid," Tony gestured to Percy's hands that showed no signs of damage.

"I'm a fast healer," Percy muttered before beginning to look like the SHIELD agent he was. He stood up straighter and fixed his SHIELD jacket. The motorcycle boots and riding jeans gave a clear indication that he had rode here on his motorcycle. That didn't make him look any less Agent like though, "Director Fury needs your paper work."

"Tell him I need more time," Bruce said.

"Not yours," Percy folded his arms over his chest, "his," he jerked a head at Tony. "For the Chituari attack."

Tony another USB out of his desk and after gazing at it for a moment he held it within plain sight, "you can have it if you answer one question."

"If I don't want to answer the question I'm tackling you for it," Agent Jackson didn't seem impressed by the billionaires playful attitude.

Bruce was surprised when Tony didn't ask, _How do you know her?_ Instead, the billionaire asked; "What happened to your first step-dad?"

For what it was worth Agent Jackson managed to keep a pretty calm expression. His hand seemed to clench slightly, but that was it.

"He went missing when I was eleven," the Agent replied, "finally managed to get into my files, I take it?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Tony chucked the USB at him.

The Agent of SHIELD looked about ready to reply, but instead he turned around and walked straight back to the elevator. After being that close to Annabeth, Percy wasn't thinking straight enough to put up any sort of argument. Pressing the button for the lobby he leant against the side of the elevator. This was just fantastic. Annabeth was obviously doing some sort of work at Stark Towers and Tony had been digging into his files. Could it get any worse?

Turns out it could.

Not long after he arrived back at his apartment for the first time since seeing Drew being burnt alive he received a phone call from Hill.

"_Get to JFK, you'll be briefed there. Pack for snow_," was all she said.

"No good afternoon? How are you?" Percy muttered as he stood, "Hill, you really out did yourself."

Packing a suitcase with the first clothes he saw he picked up his house keys and went downstairs to hail a taxi. Percy hated flying. Every time he flew the plane always just _happened _to experience turbulence. It wasn't like he could tell America's most powerful agency that he _didn't like to fly_. Percy only flew if it was necessary.

At the airport he was surprised to be greeted by Natasha.

"I thought you still had half a week off?" Percy asked as they matched strides.

"Nope," Natasha entered the premium flyers line "we're going to Italy. SHIELD thinks someone's going to crash the Prime Ministers party."

"How come they told you before me?" Percy asked as he waited for the person in front of him to finish being served.

"You were busy," Natasha shrugged.

"I forgot to give Fury Starks reports," Percy swore mentally.

"Clint's getting it," Natasha replied.

"Everyone knew about this except me?" Percy asked as he stepped up to the counter.

"Yep," Natasha handed him a passport silently.

"Hi, welcome to Delta Airlines. Can I have your names please?" The lady at the counter asked.

"Natalie Rushman and Peter Johnstone," Natasha replied, always on the ball.

After they went through security the pair sat down at their boarding gate in comfortable silence.

"Any thoughts on who's setting them up yet?" Percy questioned as he gazed around at other passengers.

"Nothing solid so far," Natasha replied, "did Stark piss you off? You seem antsy."

"I keep seeing Annabeth everywhere," Percy said distastefully.

"You should have a psych check you out," Natasha replied cheekily.

"Hilarious. I mean in real life," Percy rolled his eyes "Stark hired her for something."

"Love is for children," Natasha recited.

"I don't love her," Percy slumped in his seat "and I don't owe her a debt either."

"You just can't stop thinking about her," Natasha folded her arms across her chest.

Percy sighed, "I have stopped thinking about her. She just keeps turning up. Maybe it's a sign."

"Yeah, lets go with that," Natasha rolled her eyes.

"You've met two gods, the son of one, a man who turns into a giant rage monster and an army from outer space and yet you still don't believe in chance?" Percy listed off, "sometimes I find you confusing."

"Saying it's chance or fate is just an excuse we use to explain things we don't understand or like," Natasha looked up at the sound of their boarding call.

"Please never have children," Percy muttered as he followed her.

"I heard that," Natasha muttered in return.

"I know you did," Percy replied.

The flight was as bumpy as if ever was with him. He gripped the arm rest and kept his eyes trained on the TV in front of him. Natasha sat across the isle, completely engrossed in her Ipad, typing away at what was most likely reports and mission details. Percy knew he should be doing the same on his phone (or at least trying to- his dyslexia still had the better of him), but couldn't bring himself to.

All that ran through his mind was those golden curls and the light scent on Honeysuckle. Did Percy love her? No. He had stopped loving her the day she started dating his brother. People say you never get over your first love- and Percy knew from experience that was right. When he looked at her only hours before he didn't feel love or friendship, he felt betrayal and sadness.

"_I trusted you!"_ she had screamed at him as she being dragged away by her siblings.

"_I loved you!" _He had screamed back at her as he was dragged away by some buff member of the Ares cabin.

It was at that moment that whatever love he still felt left. When they had dragged him away from the bloody body of his brother Tyler Connie he had looked at her. Their eyes had met. Disbelieving green met furious grey. Storm over a water. She'd yelled at him. Tried to hit him. Tried to stab him. He'd stared in disbelieve and almost pleaded. But then he had yelled. Yelled for his innocence. Yelled for his brother. Yelled for his father.

He had yelled, screamed and fought and yet no one had heard him.

Shaking away the thought he reclined his chair and managed to sleep until they started a descent. Form the airport it was straight through the city to their high priced hotel. On their beds suits and dresses already waited for them- pressed and dry cleaned. They changed without a word and when they met in the lounge room gazed at each other with mirrored raised eyebrows.

"Clint's going to regret not coming," Percy said with a smirk as he gazed at her long legs.

"You look like a monkey," was Natasha's only reply.

"You know you love me," Percy smiled with out stretched arms.

"Don't push it," Natasha said with a smirk of her own as she grabbed her clutch and exited the room. "Observe only. Shouldn't be that hard."

"Knock on wood," Percy said as he knocked on the wood panelling.

"Sometimes I swear you're about as mature as a twelve year old," Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes I swear you're as grumpy as a ninety year old man," Percy retorted back.

Natasha gave him a look before entering the elevator. Outside the hotel a car was waiting for them, but Percy got distracted by something. No, it wasn't a cat (Clint still hadn't let him live that down- but that was a whole other story) or even an amusing looking dog, but rather someone he hadn't seem for a long time.

Dressed in an aviators jacket, black dress shirt and black slacks he looked far fancier than teenagers in America. His hair looked like he had just rolled out bed, and under the bright street light his pale skin and dark eyes where illuminated brightly. He seemed to be waiting for someone because in one hand was a bouquet of roses so red they looked like they had been dipped in blood.

Natasha, oblivious to his qualms had slipped a hand into his, seemingly playing the part of girlfriend and boyfriend. Percy wrenched his hand from hers though and moved towards the teenager.

"Nico?" he questioned.

"Si?" he asked in return, gaze flickering to Percy. He looked him up and down once before abandoning his flowers and stepping forward. Surprise, happiness and joy seemed to flicker over his face for a moment. It was raw that Percy had to blink a couple of times to see if he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing.

"Percy?" his cousin's Italian accent was out in full, so strong his voice was hardly recognisable.

Percy could recognise him anywhere though.

"One and only,"

**There you go, some of the mysteries have been unveiled. Not all of it though. Will Nico believe Percy? Will Percy tell Nico what really happened? **

**Tune in next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This might shatter our own personal image of Percy, but in my head he looks like Chace Crawford and Logan Lerman mixed into one. I can assure you this isn't a Percabeth story, though it will reference to past Percabeth frequently.**

There was an awkward silence between the pair. Percy stood with his hands stuffed in his pocket. He stared at Nico, waiting for him to speak. No, not speak, to yell. Maybe draw his sword or begin to swear furiously at him. Surely Nico had heard about what he had apparently done. Nico was likewise waiting for his cousin to speak. He waited for him to maybe point out the obvious or even state something so blaringly stupid that it some how sounded funny.

So while he waited he looked Percy up and down. Dressed in a finely cut suit he looked like he was just about to hit somewhere fancy. He stood above six feet now and had a harder and more defined face. He was still recognisable- obviously- but some how it wasn't the same. Perhaps it was the eyes, or the hard set of his mouth, hell, it could've been the fact that he held himself like he was about to be attacked at any moment.

The son of Hades though was drawn out of his silent inspection by some movement from behind his cousin. A women with stunning red hair and daring green eyes. Dressed in a form fitting black dress that brought attention her long and slim legs. Her cleavage was bulging under and over the fabric- eye catching to say the least. Nico had a feeling though that if he even attempted to stare for more then a second he would feel the women's fury.

"Peter," the women said, sounding slightly confused, "the car isn't going to wait much longer."

Hidden beneath the American accent was another. It sounded almost Russian. An almost unnoticeably hint of something else hid in her voice. Perhaps a threat.

"You can handle the party by yourself, right, Natalie?" Percy responded to the name _Peter. _Nico thought that maybe his cousin had changed his name after what happened.

In response the women called Natalie pushed up slightly and whispered something in his ear. Percy seemed to frown before glaring at her. Huffing to himself he pulled out his wallet and handed a card to Nico. It took a moment for the son of Hades to decipher the fact that it was a business card with a name written in neat print.

"Call me at eleven. Please," Percy was beginning to be dragged away by the red head, "just don't go anywhere."

"What?" Nico asked in confusion as he followed his cousin to the car. The red head slipped inside and gave a cold glare at Percy's back, "this is the first time I've seen you in five years and you're just leaving?"

"It's work," Percy seemed almost pained by the words, "I didn't do it. You need to know that now."

Nico blinked in surprise, "I know," was all he managed to get out before Percy was dragged into the car.

Inside the car Percy was clenching his fists and trying his best not to have a go at Natasha. He knew he could've just told her to go away (more colourful language would've been used), but then she had whispered in his ear. _'If the Prime Minister dies on your watch you won't even have a job to go back to,'_. That had made him snap out of the surprise of seeing his cousin. Apart from Clint and Natasha, SHIELD work was the only thing in his life that he actually enjoyed now.

His heart had missed a beat though as Nico had admitted to not believing what people at camp accused him of doing. The last person who he had yet to face believed him. Was it because he was the son of death? Or because he _knew _Percy? The former son of Poseidon didn't know, or care. All that mattered was that Nico believed him.

"We could've stayed for longer," Percy sighed as he reigned in his surprise and anger.

"We don't know who was watching," Natasha didn't seem at all fazed, "I haven't failed a mission yet-"

"-and you're not going to start," Percy finished for his friend.

"I know you want to play catch up with him, but he's not going anywhere," Natasha checked her make up in a compact mirror.

"You better be right," Percy muttered as he gazed out the window.

They arrived at the venue and Percy felt himself burning to just get back in the private car and telling the driver to turn around and go back to the hotel. Steeling himself though he put on his best confident smile and linked arms with Natasha. They got past security easily with their fake names and invitations. Inside there was an open bar, waiters walking around with little pieces of food that weren't enough to satisfy a hunger of Percy's size, and a large amount of dressed up girls trying to grab other guys attentions.

"I'm getting a drink," Percy said as he spotted the bar.

"Keep an eye out," Natasha gazed around the room, "I'm going to check their security."

"Alright," Percy said as he sidled through the crowd of Italians. As long as he didn't attempt to make conversation with anyone he shouldn't be seen as a foreigner- well, not an American foreigner. "Vodka," he said to the bar keep who nodded and began pouring his drink.

Taking the glass that was offered him Percy sipped the dry drink and gazed around. He looked at each face waiting for something. Perhaps a spark of recognition, a nervous twitch of an eye, someone with an excess of sweat. Every person he looked at seemed normal enough. None showed outwards signs of nervousness or even any signs of discomfort.

"The securities sound," Natasha said as she came up to him, "no gaps anywhere." Turning around she ordered a Vodka and took the drink before turning back to Percy, "recognise anyone?"

"No," Percy shook his head, "everyone looks calm. No signs of infiltration either."

"Good," Natasha sipped her drink delicately.

Percy had taken up a seat at the bar with Natasha not long after checking the security himself. As Natasha said it was sound. Guards everywhere and some of Italians own secret service milled in the crowd. He sipped on his vodka throughout the night and kept a keen eye out for anything suspicious.

"Let's dance," Natasha said calmly as she set her drink on the bar.

"I have two left feet," Percy said as he stood up and followed her onto the slowly filling dance floor. As they linked hands Percy wrapped an arm around her slim waist.

"Ten o'clock," she whispered in his ear, mouth hidden by his hair, "blonde hair, green eyes."

Percy slowly shifted around to his ten o'clock and scanned the crowd. For a moment his eyes lingered on the man described. Tall with blonde hair and green eyes he was good looking, but easy enough to loose in a crowd. With no distinguishing features he looked like an average person. Except he was turning something in his pocket. From the bulge it was to small to be a phone, but to big to a remote of any sort. His eyes shifted over the crowd uneasily.

"He arrived ten minutes ago through the left exit," Natasha continued, "the security does a walk through check every half an hour. It's been five minutes since they were due."

"I don't recognise him," Percy commented as he spun her around lightly, "he would've been around at the same time as me. He looks American."

"He hasn't spoken to anybody, except the brunette, blue eyed male to your twelve o'clock," Natasha turned once again so Percy could get a look at the other man.

"I saw him arrive through the right exit, from the bathrooms," Percy commented.

"He's been looking at you on and off for the past five minutes," Natasha stepped away as the dance ended.

"I can't help it that I'm so good looking," Percy shrugged with a smirk before turning serious, "I noticed. You go and distract the blonde while I see if the brunette follows me to the bathroom."

"It's an observe mission only," Natasha stated warily.

"I'll text you 'We need milk,' if it goes south," Percy commented with a wary smile, "if it does, meet by the bistro down the street."

Natasha nodded before beginning to walk towards the bar. Percy casually began walking towards the bathroom- watching the brunette out of the corner of his eye. As expected the brunette slowly began to follow him. Entering the bathroom Percy went to a urinal and unzipped his pants.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched as the other man from outside entered and also began relieving himself. Percy averted his gaze elsewhere while he finished. He then went to the sink and began to wash his hands, pretending to be fully engrossed in the task. As his phone began to vibrate in his pocket he pulled it out and gazed at the unknown caller ID.

Pressing _answer _he put the phone between his ear and shoulder as he dried his hands.

"_You have a lot of explaining to do," _Nico's voice broke through his ear.

"I know," Percy replied, "where can we meet?"

"_My place," _Nico replied.

"You live here?" Percy questioned rather stupidly.

"_I couldn't stand to even be within driving distance of that camp,_" Nico said darkly.

Percy saw the distorted image of a man in the metal of the hand dryer. Turning slowly he eyed the needle in the mans hand before smirking.

"Honestly?" Percy questioned as he kicked upwards. The man nimbly dodged before lunging out with a punch of his own.

"_Percy?_" Nico asked in confusion.

"Let me put you on hold," Percy muttered before chucking the phone down on the bench.

Pulling out his gun he was aiming it steadily at the mans leg when he suddenly dodged down and attempted to kick Percy's knee cap in. As Percy jumped the man used his elbow to knock the gun out his hands and send it spinning across the floor. Percy responded with an attempted uppercut to the jaw but the man dodged and tried to retaliate. Percy jumped up and landed a solid kick to the mans diaphragm. The needle in the mysterious mans hand was dropped to the floor in the action.

"Who do you work for?" Percy questioned as he readied himself for a full on hand to hand combat fight.

In response the man drew a gun of his own; "no one of interest to you, Agent Jackson," the man said with a smirk before firing. The muffler did it's job and Percy only knew the gun had been fired because of the kick it created in the mans hand. Percy managed to jump in time to avoid it ripping through the artery in his groin, but it still managed to bury itself in the flesh above his knee.

"Unfair," he said through gritted teeth. Blood pooled out of the bullet wound and onto the floor, "let's make it even, shall we?"

Clenching his fist the taps suddenly spun into action. Water began pouring out and flooding the bathroom floor. The man gazed at the water before attempting to move out of its reach. The water wouldn't have any of it though and quickly chased him down. When it reached the attacker, Percy clenched his fist one more time and watched as it froze the mans feet in place.

"Who do you work for?" Percy repeated through gritted teeth.

"You'll have to kill me," the man spat in an obvious American accent.

Percy limped over to his gun and picked it up. Tucking it back into his waist band he gazed at his leg. He couldn't do anything about it until he got rid of the bullet.

"Really?" Percy asked as he limped and locked the bathroom door. Limping over to the man he removed his gun yet again and pressed it against his head, "to the count of three."

"One," Percy began.

No response.

"Two,"

No response. Percy gazed at the needle floating into the water momentarily before bending down to pick it up.

"How about this?" Percy placed the tip of the needle over the attackers jugular.

"Do it," the brunette growled.

"Okay," Percy replied as he jabbed the needle into the mans neck and pushed down on the plunger. Almost instantly the man became weak at the knees and collapsed forward. Percy quickly melted the restricting ice around the brunettes ankles so they didn't break.

Limped back over to his phone he picked it up gingerly and pressed it to his ear.

"_What is going on?_" Nico questioned.

"I'll explain when I get to your place. Give me the address, I'll be there soon."

After getting the address, Percy texted through the code 'We need milk' to Natasha before ripping off a part of his shirt and tying it around the open wound. Gritting his teeth at the fiery pain he began to walk as normally as he could- but it was hard going.

He managed to make it out a side exit without being noticed. As he stepped out into the fresh air he took a deep breath and began limping down the street to the bistro. Swearing under his breath and through gritted teeth he stopped at the corner and leaned heavily on a street light.

"I can't leave you alone, can I?" Natasha asked as she took in his pained stance.

"No," Percy said in short reply.

"I told the guards that the attackers where to be taken into American custody. Some agents will be on it soon," Natasha said as she slipped her arm under Percy's and helped him stand straight, "I'll call the car to take us back to the hotel-"

"We need to go to Nico's," Percy cut her off, "he said it's near St Francis' park. That's around the corner, right?"

"Can you even walk that far?" Natasha quipped.

"Shut up," Percy replied, "and start walking."

It was slow and painful work. Natasha was rather just about it, but Percy still couldn't help but swear as he felt the bullet shift around within him. They reached the apartment twenty minutes later. It was nothing spectacularly fancy, thought it looked better then most apartment buildings in New York.

"Please let there be an elevator," Percy prayed as they entered.

And thank god there was. They entered and pressed the button for Nico's floor. Natasha knocked on the door and almost instantly Nico opened the door.

"Good gods," he said as he looked at the blood soaked makeshift bandage on his cousins leg, "come in, quickly."

Natasha lowered Percy onto a couch before straightening. She gazed around the fairly large apartment warily.

"I need a knife and some bandages," Natasha said.

"Oh god," Percy groaned as he sunk into the lounge. Sending an uneasy smile towards his cousin he said; "sorry bout the phone call."

"It makes a lot more sense now," Nico said as he hurried to get the things Natasha requested. Handing over a small knife he then proceeded to get a bowl of warm water and set it on the table next to Percy.

"Distract him," Natasha ordered as she knelt next to Percy's leg and cut open the leg of his pants.

"Is she seriously ordering me around in my own home?" Nico asked stupidly.

"She does that," Percy tried to ignore the sting of the wound, "so, you uh, live here?"

"Yeah," Nico said awkwardly, "I moved to Italy after I found out what happened."

"Why not stay at camp?" Percy questioned, wincing as he felt the tip of the knife against his skin.

"I got into a fight with Thalia," Nico stared at Percy, "she was trying to explain to me what happened and I started yelling at her because I didn't believe her."

"Thanks," Percy dug his fingers into the cushions as the knife slid into the bullet hole and attempted to dislodge it. Gritting his teeth so painfully he thought they would crack he tried not to let loose a lot of swears.

"So I left. I managed to prove myself to be the great nephew of my mother and got the inheritance money. I brought this place, brushed up on my Italian-"

"Hold that thought," Percy gritted his teeth as he felt the bullet slide from his leg, "okay, keep going."

"-and that's about it."

"Alright," Natasha said as she picked up the bowl of warm water, "will this do the trick?"

"Not completely," Percy muttered, "it'll close it."

"That's all I need," Natasha poured the water over the wound and Percy sighed in relief as it closed before his eyes, taking the majority of the pain with it. Once Natasha had cleared away Percy pushed himself up in the chair so he could remove his jacket and tie.

"What about you? Peter?" Nico raised an eyebrow, "did you change your name?"

"No," Percy replied, "I'm undercover."

"What, you're a spy?" Nico scoffed.

"Yes," Percy said.

"You're kidding, right?" Nico looked between the pair.

"Nope," Percy grunted.

"Start from the start," Nico said as he sat down.

"It's a long story," Percy said, abashed.

"I have time," Nico replied.

"Fine," Percy leant back into the couch, "it happened a couple of days after you left for Italy…

**Change of POV**

_I was feeding Blackjack in the stables before dinner. I suppose it was a normal day. Connor had 'accidenlty ' set the Demeter cabin on fire, but I suppose that counts as normal. I went back to my cabin to grab my shower stuff and I found Tyler and Annabeth making out on my bed. I suppose I would've been able to deal with it- if it wasn't for the fact it was on my bed._

"_What are you doing?" I had asked them._

_Annabeth had at least looked guilty. For a moment I let it sink in how ironic it was that the daughter of Athena had been caught making out with a son of Poseidon in one of the sea gods personal places- much like Medusa had. _

"_I have to go," she had said. _

_She hadn't even looked me in the eye._

_After she left I had waited for Tyler to maybe apologise. Maybe give an apologetic shrug or look, but instead he got angry. Apparently he was about to get past Annabeth's 'tight ass defences'. I just couldn't stand him talking about Annabeth like that so I'd gotten angry as well._

"_You're such an arrogant jerk!" I had yelled at him._

"_You just can't stand the fact that your fifteen minutes of fame are up!" he had yelled back._

_I suppose I could've let it go. Maybe walked away. But you know how hotted I was back then. We had began ripping at each others throats. Then Jason had come into to get us for dinner. I considered him a friend- even though he was Roman and a son of Zeus. The whole point for why he was at camp was to strengthen (well, recreate really) the bonds between Romans and Greeks- and I was glad it was him and not me. _

_As soon as he stepped in I seemed to forget where I was. I just sort of faded out of it._

_Next thing I know I'm standing over Tyler's body._

"Wait," Nico said in surprise, breaking through Percy's story, "you can't remember it?"

"No," Percy hid his face from sight, "when I was younger I used to sort of fade out when I was angry. But it was different that time. It was as if someone had physically pushed me out of my own body.

"Possession?" Nico asked.

"I don't know," Percy sighed, "I need vodka, do you have vodka?"

Once Nico had poured glasses for all of them, Percy continued.

_Then Thalia came to see what was going on. It must've been loud. She tripped over Jason's…..body…..then she freaked. I was to shocked to do anything. She threw me into a wall and pinned me there, screaming at me. I just couldn't stop looking at their bodies. I was so confused…._

_But Thalia's freak out had drawn others towards my cabin. I only figured out later that I was covered in blood. I was soaked in it….it was horrible. Thalia was inconsolable. Chiron had to physically drag me to the Big House. I just couldn't believe what had happened._

_He then asked me what happened. I said I truthfully didn't know. He said for me to swear on the River Styx that I didn't do it them. But I couldn't. The words just wouldn't come out. It was as if I had lost my voice. I suppose that was all the evidence they needed. Within twelve hours words had reached the Romans that their praetor had died- at the hands of a child of Poseidon no less. Zeus was furious, he called for a trial._

_Annabeth managed to reach me before they took me up to Olympus. She yelled at me. It broke my heart._

"_Why?" she yelled._

"_I didn't do it!" I yelled back._

"_You were covered in their blood! Riptide was confirmed as the murder weapon. It was you," she had said in return, "you can at least tell me why!"_

_It wasn't any better on Olympus. They argued for hours about it like I wasn't there. Hermes and Hestia were the only ones on my side. Even father wasn't. I suppose he wasn't happy I killed his new favourite child. They said the majority was against me. I don't know why they were so severe. They didn't need to mark me a traitor. I wasn't one. They banned me from any place related to the Greek or Roman gods and that was it- they threw me away._

_I landed in a field and Agent Coulson found me. SHIELD recruited me and I joined the ranks easily. I met Natasha and Clint after pairing with them on a mission and that's it._

"You haven't spoken to anyone after that?" Nico questioned, "no one tried to contact you?"

"No," Percy replied, hands still buried in his face, "the empathy think was cut. I couldn't Iris Message Tyson. It was horrible."

"No one deserves that," Natasha said, even though she had heard the story before.

"They're pigs," Nico spat, "I'm glad I left."

"I don't see why they tried to speak to their spirits, surely they'd tell the truth," Percy mumbled.

"I already checked. They went for rebirth," Nico said darkly.

"Fantastic," Percy sighed, "why didn't you believe them?"

"I know you," Nico said, "you've literally saved the world. You wouldn't murder someone because they were having sex with your ex. I'm just a little concerned that you can't remember what happened…"

"It's a form of post-traumatic stress syndrome," Natasha commented, "it's common. You're brain thinks it's to traumatic so its pressed it away until you're ready for it."

"Maybe," Percy sighed, "It's just so good to see you."

"I looked for you," Nico frowned, "at your apartment, Montauk, I checked public records but there was no sign of you…."

"SHIELD wipes you off the map if you're level seven or above," Natasha explained, "security reasons. I better get back to the hotel for debrief. The plan leaves at eleven o'clock tomorrow. Don't be late."

Taking that as Natasha's version of _'I'll leave you two alone_,' Percy gave a wain smile as she left.

Nico stuffed his hands into his pockets before speaking, "when I couldn't find you I felt….lost….like after Bianca…..you were like a brother to me…"

"Is the son of Hades turning soft?" Percy asked to break the dark mood.

"I missed you," Nico said simply.

"Me too,"

**Hmmm, not as happy with this chapter as I planned, but after spending about four hours on it, it's the best its going to be.**

**Review please!**


	7. Chapter 7

Nico poured himself a new glass of Vodka and sniffed at it before drinking. Percy finished what was left in his glass in one mouthful and then mirrored his cousins action. Nico raised an eyebrow at his rapid alcohol consumption and Percy gave a little smile in return.

"I'm trained to repel all poisons," Percy said in explanation, "alcohol included. Drinking with a born and bread Russian though is good training as well….You're only nineteen, why are you drinking?"

"Drinking age is sixteen here," Nico shrugged as he took another drink. Grimacing he set the glass down and stood up. Heading over to the fridge he pulled out a Budweiser and sat back down. "That reminds me, you owe me five years worth of birthday presents."

"My salary isn't that much," Percy scoffed as he finished another glass.

"Must be a perk working with someone like her," Nico said in reference to Natasha.

"She's taken, even if she doesn't realise it," Percy gave a small smile, "and I'm only with her on level seven or above missions."

"I'm still half expecting you to say this is one big joke," Nico said lightly. With each passing sentence his Italian accent seemed to melt away to reveal his all American accent.

"Nope," Percy shook his head, "I still find it hard to believe. I have to be honest- it's one of the best things that's ever happened to me."

"So how can I thank this Agent Coulson?" Nico asked cheerfully as he sipped on his beer.

"You can't," Percy stared down at his shoes, "he passed away about a month ago."

"Oh," Nico commented awkwardly, "what field would he be in?"

"Elysium, I hope," Percy mumbled, "he was a great guy. A little obsessed with _Supernanny _though. He once told me he made interns sit in a naughty corner…."

"How'd he die?" Nico asked politely.

"Do you know about the alien attack on New York last month?" Percy gazed back up at his cousin.

"Who doesn't?" Nico muttered.

"You know how the media said that it was just an alien attack?" Percy watched as his cousin nodded, "it was actually an attack planned by Loki."

"Norse god Loki?" Nico's brow crinkled, "I thought they stayed on Asgard?"

"It's complicated, but yes," Percy nodded, "SHIELD brought him in custody, but escaped. Agent Coulson was the first agent on the scene- he was stabbed through the chest. He was gone by the time anyone could reach him."

Percy let out a long sigh and gazed into his glass. Coulson was a great guy. Once you got to know him you found out he was more then just a badass. He had a girlfriend, an unhealthy obsession with Captain America, and knew every _Supernanny _technique off by heart- and let's not forget his like for donuts.

"He sounds like a great guy," Nico said solemnly.

"He was," Percy said in agreement.

"If you work for SHIELD you must know about the Avengers. I mean, SHIELD's American government, right?" Nico changed the subject.

"SHIELD I suppose is American government, but it works on an international scale. The Avengers exist because of SHIELD. The Director organised the team. Natasha is technically an Avenger but they kept it from the media." Percy said with a shrug.

"Why weren't you drafted?" Nico questioned with a smirk.

"Not my division," Percy muttered as he stifled a yawn.

Nico stood up and put the vodka away, "you can have the spare room."

"Are you going to bed?" Percy questioned.

"We can talk in the morning," Nico gestured for Percy to stand up, "you look dead on your feet."

"I've been awake for longer," Percy said carelessly, but he still stood. His leg stung when he put to much pressure on it- so he instead opted to walk with a slight limp to relieve it. Following Nico down the hall they entered a reasonably small bedroom that was filled with a single bed and a dresser.

"Thanks," Percy said truthfully.

"No problem," Nico stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I'll see you in the morning."

Though Percy would never tell Nico this, he collapsed straight onto the bed once his cousin was gone. He groggily kicked off his shoes and dumped his gun on the floor before crawling up to the pillow. He was tired- emotionally and physically. He fell asleep almost straight away, despite the unfamiliar surroundings.

It was the best nights sleep he'd had in five years.

When morning came though he awoke earlier then expected. The street outside was coming alive and Percy could hear Nico walking around the apartment. Sometimes he damned his training to hell. He just wanted to sleep forever. He knew he wouldn't be able to get to sleep with all of the noise though. So sitting up he blinked away the last tendrils of sleep and looked around the room. Thanking his lucky stars he found there was in fact a bathroom that contained a shower.

He let out a satisfied sound as he stepped under the stream of water. It made the pain in his leg lesson and begin to heal even further. As he got out and wrapped a towel around himself he heard noise from inside his room. Poking his head out he saw Nico gingerly holding his gun.

"You can fight with metal from the rivers of Hades but you can't hold a gun?" Percy questioned in surprise.

"Is the safety on?" Nico asked sceptically.

"Yes," Percy rolled his eyes and eyed the new clothes on the bed, "I won't fit into your clothes."

"I brought them," Nico held up a simple shirt, "looks about your size."

"Thanks," Percy replied.

Nico left so that he could get changed and Percy found the clothes were actually his size. The jeans and a shirt came with a black jacket. Slipping the gun into the back of his waistband he slipped on his shoes and walked out into the kitchen.

"Breakfast?" Nico asked as he held out a pastry box.

"You're more organised then I remember," Percy opened the box to reveal some sort of cheese and bacon roll. He sniffed at it before taking a big bite.

"It happens," Nico shrugged, "I was on my own, so I had to sort of stuff out."

Percy finished his mouthful before speaking; "I have to go back to America."

"I know," Nico seemed to think for a moment, "I might go over for a visit. McDonalds isn't the same over here."

"Of course that's what you care about," Percy chuckled, "you can stay at my place. I'm not home often though….I might be able to get some holiday leave."

"Thanks," Nico said honestly.

"No problem," Percy pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked through his messages. He grimaced slightly at the less then nice message from Agent Hill before putting his phone away, "I still live at my old apartment. I have to go."

"I'll see you there, I guess," Percy stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

Percy met Natasha at the airport. She flashed him a small smile- a big thing for her. After checking in they went through security and boarded the plane. The nine hour flight felt long and the turbulence was just as bad. Percy still didn't let that get him down though. He had made up for Nico, his cousin would be coming to stay with him, and without a doubt that meant things would get a bit more amusing in his empty home.

"Debrief is at six tomorrow," Natasha commented as they headed out of JFK.

"Joy," Percy muttered.

Percy got a taxi back to his apartment. Once inside he found the tell-tale signs that someone else had been there. A slight shift of some papers in the hall, different temperature on the thermostat and a wisp of cologne. It certainly wasn't Clint.

"Nico," Percy called as he walked down the hall.

"Hey," Nico was in the lounge room, watching some sort of animated show, "I really missed American TV."

"Are you hungry?" Percy looked at his watch.

"I'm good," Nico said, "I already ate."

Percy dumped his bag by the cabinet and noticed the USB was gone. A piece of paper had replaced it though. Turning it over he frowned at the message.

_Took your bike. I'll be at Stark Towers chasing Stark up for paper work, _it read.

"Jesus, Clint," Percy muttered as he crumpled up the paper.

"What?" Nico looked away from the TV.

"Clint took my bike," Percy muttered as he dug through his bag, "I have to go get it."

"Good luck," Nico mumbled.

"You're coming," Percy said with a smirk, "I need to get food. And we have a lot to catch up on."

"I don't do motorcycles," Nico muttered.

"Shadow travel," Percy responded with a smile.

Changing into his riding jeans, boot and jacket he came back out to see Nico still in front of the TV.

"Come on," Percy folded his arms over his chest, "what happened to eager to help Nico?"

"Left him in Italy," Nico said with a groan as he pushed himself off the couch, "Where to?"

"Stark Towers," Percy said as he gripped his cousins arm.

"That big ugly building?" Nico questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep," Percy said in reply.

In an instant they where engulfed in the shadows. Percy realised how much he _didn't _miss this form of travel. Though it only lasted a second it seemed to go for hours. When they came out of the shadows in an abandoned alleyway Percy couldn't help but need to brace himself against the wall.

"I did not miss that," Percy muttered as he straightened.

Nico offered Percy a smile before walking out the alley way Percy found they where only a block away from the new landmark tower. They walked in general silence and towards the tower, passing by a rather nice looking Café that seemed to have some delicious looking cake. Percy nearly had to wipe drool from his chin at the sight of it.

"You can just wait in the lobby," Percy said as he swiped his SHIELD card in front of the doors sensor. The towers doors opened and the pair stepped in, "this should only take a second."

Percy stepped into the elevator and asked Jarvis;

"What floor is Agent Barton on?"

"Agent Barton is currently in Mr Stark's personal lab," Jarvis replied promptly.

The elevator instantly took him to that floor and Percy stepped out to an odd sight. Banner was leaning against a work bench, arms crossed over his chest while Clint was perched up on the highest cabinet in the room, bow and arrow in hand. Tony was standing rather protectively in front of a single armed robot, who beeped as if scared.

"-the paper work, Stark," Clint was saying.

"Am I missing something?" Percy asked as he stepped deeper into the lab.

"Agent Barton has spent the last day terrorising Tony for his paper work," Bruce explained, "he's been destroying the tower with his arrows."

"Stark already gave me his paperwork," Percy said in confusion.

"That was a USB filled with cat Gifs," Clint said as he drew back the arrow, "Fury was not impressed."

"If you hurt Dum-e I'll shove an arrow so far up your ass-" Tony was beginning to threaten Clint.

"Just give him the paperwork," Percy rolled his eyes.

"I haven't finished it," was Stark's lame response.

"I gave him four hours to finish it," Clint explained as he shifted slightly to get a clear shot.

"I have more important things to do, Robin Hood," Stark said in defence, "you're friend is crazy, Lancelot."

"Lancelot?" Percy asked in confusion.

"He makes nicknames for everyone," Bruce explained calmly.

Percy sidestepped Tony and headed over to the cabinet. It only took him a minute to figure out how to get up there. When he reached the top he held out his hand.

"Keys," he said.

"In a minute," Clint responded.

"Give me the keys or I push you off," Percy threatened.

"One more second," Clint drew back the arrow.

Percy jumped up and pushed his friend off the cabinet. Clint did a half rotation in the air and landed on his feet. The arrow he had fired though went off course and hit a rack of test tubes.

"Here," Clint said with a grunt as he dug his keys out and chucked them to Percy.

"Thanks," Percy said with a smile as he pocketed the keys.

"You can't just leave me with him," Tony pointed towards Clint who was beginning to knock another arrow.

"Watch me," Percy said with a smirk.

"Jarvis, lock the elevator," Tony ordered, "you don't leave until Barton does."

"I'm not leaving without the paperwork," Clint said as he loosed at arrow into Tony's computer.

"Then we're going to be here for a long time," Tony smirked.

Down stairs things weren't going much better. Nico had taken a seat in the large and empty lobby. He had nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. No Ipod, no cards, he didn't even have a loose thread to pull.

It was as if the universe decided to get rid of his boredom though. The doors opened and Nico sat up and looked at the person entering. Tall, with dark curly hair, a goatee, and a raster cap he looked like a hippy. His _Save the Trees_ T-shirt was proof of that. Under his arms were crutches- the tell tale sign of a Satyr.

There was a pause between the pair as there eyes met. That was enough time for Nico to school his emotions. Gone was the playful and sarcastic Italian. In his place came the snarky and rather morbid son of Hades.

Grover Underwood let out a loud nervous bray before speaking, "Nico! What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for someone," he replied smoothly.

Grover limped further into the room nervously; "you're looking good. I didn't know you where still in New York."

Grover had been present at his massive blow up at Thalia. Though rather silent, Grover at least had the common decency to look guilty.

"I'm just here for a couple of days," Nico answered politely.

"That's cool," Grover trailed off as he gazed at the couch.

"What are you doing here?" Nico couldn't help but question.

"Annabeth's doing some work for Mr Stark," Grover glanced at the elevator as it dinged.

He looked like someone had just given him a whole silverware set and told him to _'help himself'. _Annabeth walked out the elevator, papers in her arms and blueprints under her armpit. At the sight of Grover she seemed to lighten up a bit, but then she spotted Nico. The different emotions that flickered over her face were slightly amusing to Nico.

"Nico," Annabeth said, "good to see you again."

"Finally became an architect, I'm guessing?" Nico didn't offer Annabeth the same courtesy.

"Yes," Annabeth shifted a little, "so, uh, what have you been doing?"

"Nothing much," Nico stuck his hands into his pocket.

"Grover and I are going to get something to eat. You can come if you want and we can catch up," Annabeth seemed to get a grip on herself.

"No, thankyou," Nico added the _thankyou _out of politeness.

"Well, it was good to see you," Annabeth said awkwardly, "see you around Camp?"

"No," Nico deadpanned.

Annabeth seemed to get the message as she headed over to the exit. Grover limped behind her, obviously wanting to get out of the building as fast as possible. The blonde paused for a moment though- one hand resting on the cool glass door.

"Nico," she stated slowly, as if unsure, "have you seen Percy lately?"

Nico kept his face calm and clear as he said; "No, you threw him away, remember? If I was him I'd want to get as far away as possible from that damned Camp."

Annabeth looked hurt for a second before turning away and leaving. As the two disappeared onto the busy street Nico flopped back into the couch with a grunt. It was just his luck though that Percy exited the elevator. A blonde man with blue eyes also followed. The pair looked rather amused.

"You didn't have to hit him that hard," Percy was saying.

"He deserved it," the blonde man smirked, "he won't be handing in paper work late again."

"Nico, meet Clint Barton," Percy said as he gestured to the blonde, "Clint, this is my cousin, Nico Di Angelo."

"Nice to meet you," Clint said as they shook hands, "I've got to go. I'll see you at base."

"Right," Percy said with a nod, watching as his friend left, "glad to see you didn't die of boredom," he addressed Nico.

Nico offered a small smirk in return.

"Are you okay?" Percy questioned with concern.

"Fine," Nico lied.

Percy knew his cousin was lying.

**There you go, another chapter. There won't be an update for about four days. I have another story I need to update, and homework.**


	8. Chapter 8

Annabeth sat alone in the too large office, the sounds of some new pop song playing through her headphones. Behind her the city lights were blinking lovingly as if they begging for attention. Annabeth wanted nothing more then to turn around and give the city her full attention, but she had work to do.

In front of her was her large note book that contained all the sketches and room designs she had planned. She cast a critical eye at the blueprint above the notebook before scribbling down some more notes. Mr Starks family mansion was large to say the least. It took up a whole city block, was three stories high and had three underground levels. In total it had about eighteen bedrooms and bathrooms, four living rooms, two king size dining rooms and three kitchens. Though she wanted to bury herself in her work, she found she couldn't.

It was about eight o'clock. All she had eaten today was a banana and some nasty tasting cookies. She was now surviving off coffee and music. Speaking of music she turned her Ipod up and attempted to tune out the rest of the world.

This was the job of a lifetime. The amount of zeroes that would be on her pay check was prove enough. It would give her enough money to move to New York, help with things and camp, and put some away towards her own architect firm. Her dreams where finally coming true. She had everything she could ever want. She had a boyfriend, friends, and a good future ahead of her.

_You don't have Percy,_ a voice whispered in her head.

Annabeth scowled at the thought. When she was a teenager she imagined having Percy in her future. Maybe they could get engaged, get married on the beach….but those where just teenage fantasies. After what he did though Annabeth had pushed all thought of Percy from her mind. It was only at the sight of him did those thoughts return.

She knew it was Percy she had seen in Mr Starks labs. With messy black hair, daring greens eyes and a seat but playful look about him it just had to be Percy. Seeing Nico in the lobby just confirmed her thoughts (or where they fears?). Nico had shown signs of being out of the country (paler skin and slight accent) and yet he was in Stark Towers at the same time as Percy? It wasn't a coincidence. Nico had always supported Percy. He was the brother he'd always wanted.

"_Do you think we were to tough on him?" _Grover had questioned at lunch yesterday.

"_Of course not. He killed people Grover. He's not the same person he was when he was sixteen,_" she had replied quickly and angrily, _"he deserved everything he got."_

She had meant every word she had said. It was bad enough Percy had killed Tyler- charming and boyish Tyler- but Jason? That had torn apart not only what little relations they had with the Romans, it had also torn Thalia apart. The Huntress had been so pleased to finally have her brother back. But then she had found him dead in a puddle of his own blood on the floor. Killed by her cousin and friend no less.

Gazing down at her work she sipped on her cooling coffee. She needed to get four basic room designs done by tomorrow. It would be a long night. She counted herself lucky that she was in an office, not her boyfriends apartment or her cabin. She wouldn't be able to get any work done if she was there.

She was so engrossed in her work she didn't notice the door open until the last second. The sound of the door being opened with a little to much force jarred her out of her thoughts and back into reality. She spilt her coffee in her attempt to reach down to were her dagger was hidden in her bag. Her headphones were ripped out of her ears rather painfully in the process—allowing her to hear the apologies.

"Sorry, ma'am," the man said as he walked into the room.

"Oh, gods," she looked at her in dismay. Her coffee and fallen over and soaked straight through her note book. The ink was already running down the page.

"I am so sorry, ma'am," the man said again as he removed his jacket and used it to mop up the coffee. He was tall and dressed in a checked shirt and trousers. Unusually high trousers….

"It's okay," Annabeth lied with a sigh, "I should've been paying attention. May as well introduce ourselves. I'm Annabeth Chase, is there something you needed?"

"Steve Rogers," the man replied with a polite incline of his head, "Mr Stark said the Ms Potts was in her office…" he trailed off.

"Down the hall, the big double doors," Annabeth replied.

"My apologies, again, ma'am," Steve Rogers said with all honesty, "if there is anyway to make it up to you, please don't hesitate to ask."

Annabeth paused for a moment, "there is actually. Have you seen a man about 6'3, black hair, green eyes? His names Percy Jackson."

Steve seemed to pause for a moment before replying, "yes, he came out for drinks once. He's a government Agent."

Annabeth was stunned into silence. Percy couldn't sit still for half a second, let alone become an agent.

"May I ask why?" Steve asked politely.

"We used to go to summer camp together," Annabeth replied, "I just haven't talked to him in a while…."

"I better be going," Steve said, "I'll bring you a new coffee."

"Thank you," Annabeth replied honestly as she sat back down. The door was shut silently behind the man and Annabeth took a moment to rest her head in her hands.

It would take her two days at least to copy out her notes all over again. Maybe she should've just used Daedalus' laptop. Sighing to herself she pulled it out and opened it up. She stared at the flashing screen for one moment before taking a deep breath. She wouldn't be able to work if she kept mulling over Percy in her head. It Percy wanted to become and agent, so be it. It was his life. As long as he didn't hurt anyone close to her ever again, he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

**-This is a Line Break-**

Percy sat at his kitchen bench, sword out on the table. Nico sat across from him his own stygian iron blade out for show. Percy stood up and dug out his polishing set. Nico sent him a smirk.

"Just because you have a permanently shiny sword doesn't mean mine always is," Percy said in a reply to the smirk. After oiling up a rag he began lovingly checking it over for dents and scratches.

"How much celestial steal is in it?" Nico questioned as he put his own sword away and leant on the table.

"Half of it, I don't know the weight," Percy replied, "Fury got a chunk of it off this guy named William Stryker back in '01. I managed to talk him into giving me some."

"I suppose it's good you can have a sword. You can't aim," Nico sipped on his beer and kicked his combat clad feet onto the table.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Percy muttered sarcastically as he began shining up his sword.

"You're welcome, Captain Sarcasm," Nico replied with another smirk.

"Oh god, I'm beginning to think I should've left you in Italy," Percy said with a playful chuckle.

"You know you love me," Nico said as he stood, "you want a drink?"

"Can you grab the vodka for me?" Percy asked.

"What is with you and Vodka?" Nico asked as he grabbed the bottle and handed it to Percy.

"Natasha got me into it. She's Russian. When I turned twenty one she and Clint took me to a bar and all I had was Vodka. Beers just as good but…"

He stopped as someone knocked on the front door. Turning towards the hall he gazed down at his sword for a moment.

"I've got it," Nico replied as he walked down the hall.

Percy stuffed his sword onto his chair and walked over to the sink. Washing the oil off his hands he cringed internally as Nico called.

"Percy, a pirate from the matrix called Fury looking for you," his teenage cousin called.

"Oh Christ," Percy raced around the corner and down the hall. Pushing his cousin away from the door Percy gave an uneasy smile in the direction of the Director of SHIELD. Fury did not look at all impressed, "Hi, Director, what are you doing here?"

"I need to speak to you," Fury said, "may I come inside?"

"Yeah, sure," Percy stepped aside and sent a glare to his cousin in warning, "is this because Clint and I locked Stark in a cupboard?"

"No," Fury stepped inside.

"Something wrong with my debrief?" Percy lead Fury towards the lounge room.

"If you keep asking I might just not tell you," Fury said with an exasperated sigh.

"Right," Percy rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Nico, who was listening intently, "Nico, can leave for a moment?"

"We're getting low on beer anyway," Nico muttered as he gazed at the shadows in the wall. In a second he walked into them and melted into the shadows. Fury watched him leave with a raised eyebrow.

"Is he the cousin I've heard about?" Fury asked.

"Yeah," Percy nodded, "so, what did you want to speak to me about?"

"Agent Romanoff pointed something out to me in her debrief," Fury folded his arms behind his back, "something that should've been obvious prior."

"And that is….?" Percy questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Your lack of memory can become a threat," Fury said with absolute certainty, "it can be used against you in the case that you are captured by unfriendly forces."

"You think that it's so traumatic it'll put me at risk. I don't remember. I'm fine with that," Percy felt some anger spike up within him, "it'll be my fault, and my fault only."

"It puts others at risk," Fury replied coolly.

"What do you want me to do about it? Every psych and specialist you sent me too in the mental evaluations said that the memories won't be coming back," Percy folded his arms over his chest.

"Someone new came to our attention," Fury said, "he's already agreed. Rather begrudgingly, but agreed none the less."

"Who is it then?" Percy asked. It was pointless. He couldn't win a fight against the Director of SHIELD. The spy of spies. He was more peeved that Natasha had mentioned it to someone. It wouldn't become a weakness. He wouldn't let it.

"Bruce Banner," Fury replied promptly.

"You want the alter ego of the Hulk to help me with memory?" Percy asked in disbelief.

"Dr Banner under most circumstances cannot remember what happens when he….transforms…If he tries hard enough though he can get snippets. We think maybe his techniques can help you," Fury gazed around the lounge room momentarily.

"If I say no you're going to come up with some sort of punishment, right?" Percy asked with a sigh.

"You truly are Coulson's protégé. I can say I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I found _Supernanny_ on your TiVo," Fury said with a smirk, "but you're right, Agent Jackson. Every two days, ten o'clock level 73 room 4 of Stark Towers."

"Fantastic," Percy said with a sigh.

"It starts tomorrow. I will know if you haven't been going," Fury gave Percy a serious look, "I have eyes everywhere."

"Yes, sir," Percy said the _sir _begrudgingly as he showed Fury out.

The rest of the night involved vodka, blue cookies and a large amount of _Whose Line Is It Anyway. _It certainly helped Percy get over his initial anger though. It didn't fade completely. He still couldn't believe Natasha would tell Fury that. Natasha was all about doing things right but…..No, it didn't matter. It had happened. May as well deal with it….

In the morning Percy was anything but bright eyed and bushy tailed. He rolled off the bed with a grunt and lay on the floor. He wanted to crawl back into bed and never see the light of day again. He grunted as he pushed himself off the floor. Stretching out his tense muscles he grunted some more as his muscles loosened. Heading over to the window he opened it up wide and breathed in the smell of Moonlace. It was just the thing to wake him up in the morning.

After showering he headed out of his room and grabbed a bagel. Smothering it in cream cheese he stuffed it in his mouth as he slipped his riding shoes on gazed around for his keys. Biting away at his breakfast he pushed past the beer bottles in an attempt to find them.

"Oh Christ," Percy muttered as he couldn't find them. Gazing at his watch he let out some more swears.

"Do you have to be so loud?" Nico questioned as he stumbled into the kitchen.

"Not my fault you have a hangover," Percy replied with a grunt as he finally found his keys.

"Yes, it is your fault," Nico said with a grunt of his own.

"You just can't hold your liquor," Percy smirked as he grabbed his jacket, "I have things to take care of after. I won't be home until late."

"Okay, have fun, honey," Nico said sarcastically, "I'll be in Venice."

"Why Venice?" Percy asked in confusion.

"They have good Poker circles over there," Nico smirked.

"Right,"

It didn't take Percy long to reach Stark Towers. Parking his bike in the street he locked the wheels and made sure there was no way it could be stolen. For a moment he paused, but then with a swipe of his card he entered the building. Pressing the button for the right floor he stuck his hands into the pocket and waited for the elevator to rise up into the air.

Entering the room labelled _Four_, Percy found it was a large training room fitted with everything from a boxing room to a sauna. In the middle of the room stood Bruce Banner, looking more ill at ease then Percy.

"Agent Jackson," Dr Banner said with a nod.

"Dr Banner," Percy replied with the same polite nod.

"Why don't you take off your shoes and jacket and then we can begin?" Bruce said as he slipped off his own shoes. Percy took off his jacket and undid his shoes, wriggling his toes in his socks uncertainly. "I'm not going to lie. This is going to be awkward. We may as well just move past that."

"Okay," Percy said with a shrug as he reached behind him and pulled his gun from his waist band, "you want this off my person as well?"

"Preferably," Bruce said with a tentative smile.

"Perfect," Percy chucked it down on his jacket.

"Have you ever meditated?" Bruce asked as he gestured for Percy to move forward.

"Yes," Percy said with a nod.

"And how did that go?" Bruce asked.

"I ended up burning a hole in the tiles with a lighter," Percy shrugged.

"Concentration problems?" Bruce asked.

"Sort of," Percy shrugged, not wanting to share what could be considered a weakness to some with the doctor.

"I'm not going to sell your secrets to the mafia, Agent Jackson," there was a tentative smile.

"I'm severely ADHD," Percy said in a sigh.

"We can work past that," Bruce nodded to himself, "lets get started, shall we?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry if some characters are OOC in this chapter….I tried really hard. This chapter is key to future chapters so I can't just change it around.**

Percy wanted nothing more then to itch that annoying little itch on the tip of his nose. He could feel it. It was like the itch was burning into the tip of his nose. He just wanted to scratch it, to scratch at it until his skin was red. He didn't though. He had been taught in the first year of his training not to give into his urges. He could do this. He could get past needing to scratch his nose. He just began to imagine he was on a stake out with Natasha. Her deadly glare burning into the side of his head as he shifted….yeah, that definitely worked.

"Fury didn't tell me what he wants you to remember, it's up to you if you want to tell me" Bruce said as he sat down across from Percy and set some incense sticks in the holder, "when did it happen?"

"I was nineteen," Percy responded with a cool gaze.

"They do start young…." Bruce said almost to himself before speaking to Percy again, "where?"

Percy frowned at that. Did it really matter where? Clenching his fist slightly Percy responded, "Long Island."

"Okay," Bruce seemed confused for a moment, "close your eyes and imagine yourself there. It doesn't matter what part, just imagine yourself there."

Percy took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine himself standing on the beach of camp. The sand would be crunching beneath his shoes, the water would be lapping against the shore. He'd be able to smell the salt of the sea and the sweetness of the strawberries….It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. After being at the camp for so many years, it was hard to forget it.

"Ready?" Bruce asked.

"Ready," Percy said to himself.

"Imagine yourself going to the last place you can remember being. Don't rush, just go there in your head," Bruce said in a calm and steady voice.

Percy imagined himself walking up the dunes towards his cabin. The camp was rather empty. No laughter, no yelling, no clanging of swords. Percy stopped outside the door of his cabin- not wanting to see what lay within. He had just imagined himself opening the door when he heard something hit the floor behind him. His eyes instantly snapped open and he turned around.

"Tony didn't put the weights away properly," Bruce commented with a sigh. Percy then noticed how one of the weights seemed to have pushed something little and black off the shelves.

Percy took this opportunity to scratch his nose and check his phone. He was reading through a message from Clint (apparently someone on the internet had taken a picture of him shooting and captioned it 'Caw Caw Motherfucker') when he felt Bruce staring at him.

"One minute," Percy said as he squinted at the phone to message back his reply.

Bruce guessed from the slow manner in which Percy texted he either had eye problems or some reading disability. He supposed if SHIELD hired someone with severe ADHD it wouldn't matter if the person was dyslexic or short sighted. Percy finally managed to finish the text before sliding away his phone.

"Should we start again?" Percy asked.

"I want you to go to the last thing you remember," Bruce started again, watching as the agent closed his eyes. The scientist observed as Agent Jackson's brow crinkled and his face seemed to darken. Bruce had gotten good at reading people- and he knew what Percy must've been seeing was not good.

"Tell me what you see," Bruce said as he took a deep breath.

The Agent seemed to hesitate. What was with agents being so private?

"I'm not selling your secrets to the Russian mafia, remember? You can tell me," Bruce said jokingly.

The agent didn't crack a smile, "I was fighting with my brother."

"And then?" Bruce asked, trying to create a scene in his head. He briefly remembered Tony mentioning nothing on a brother in the Jackson file.

"My cousin came in," Percy huffed, "then nothing."

That was it? There wasn't any torture, explosions or murders? Bruce had expected the PTSD to have been brought on by some great event. Of course the tiny things could scar a person….but a fight with a brother? That was new to him.

"What do you remember after blanking out?" Bruce asked after a moments silence.

This one Percy seemed set on not answering. His mouth formed a thin line and his eyes shot open. The defiant green met with Bruce's cautious brown. There was almost a hint of shame in those stunningly green eyes. Bruce knew that look all to well. He saw it whenever he looked in the mirror.

The young agent was ashamed of something he couldn't even remember doing.

"I'm not going to judge you," Bruce said with all honesty.

"You'd be one of the first," Percy rolled his eyes with a huff, while in the same motion he stretched out his leg and scratched his nose. "It's too personal."

"It won't work if we don't trust each other," Bruce pointed out.

Percy gazed off the side, not answering.

"How about next session?" Bruce suggested, "you can actually get ready for it. Fury said you have to do the full hours though-"

"-Or it comes out of my pay. I heard," he gave a grim smile.

"Come with me to the labs," Bruce stood up and pinched out the incense.

"Stark isn't there, is he?" Percy stood up and stretched out his limbs.

"He's in a meeting in Tokyo," Bruce replied, "I figure no point doing something if you're not ready. I actually need your help with Drew Tanaka."

"What about her?" Percy grabbed his gun and stuffed it into his waistband before slipping on his jacket and shoes.

"She has little to no medical information. I found an unusual high amount of iron in her blood….she didn't have any medical problems, did she?" Bruce pressed the button for the labs.

"Not that I know of," Percy stepped out of the elevator and gazed around the pristine labs.

"Would she have been exposed to anything radioactive? Gamma rays? Toxic waste?" Bruce sat down at a desk and gestured for Percy to pull up a chair.

"Very slight possibility," the agent said with a grim frown.

"That rules out a few things," Bruce mirrored the frown.

"Explain-"

The elevator dinged open and Percy did his best not to tense. He was about to relax when he saw the bulging muscles, but when he saw the face he became more tense then before. A tall muscled man with a stubble beard and long blonde hair stepped out of the elevator. A red cape shifted behind him, while the lights made his armour and massive hammer sparkle and shine.

Clint had told Percy all about the God of Thunder. Of course Percy had his own perspective from camp life. Norse and Greeks didn't get along well, but they certainly got along better then Romans and Greeks. Apparently every fifty years the two groups of deities would meet on the winter solstice to discuss….well, whatever needed to be discussed.

"Thor," Bruce blinked in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be back so soon."

"With the tesseract back in the All Fathers hands it did not take long for the Bifrost to rebuild itself," Thor stepped into the room and held a hand out to Bruce, "it is good to see you again, Banner."

"Uh, you too," the scientist said uneasily.

Thor turned to Percy and held out a hand as well- some how trained in Midgardian greetings, "I am Thor Odinson."

"Percy Jackson," Percy replied as he shook Thor's hand.

"The Perseus Jackson?" Thor questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Percy gave a small- almost grim- smile.

"Heimdall told the All Father of your trials. You truly a worthy warrior," Thor gave him a friendly grin, "you must give your uncle my fathers greetings, for it has been long since they have last spoken."

Percy let go of Thor's hand and gazed at his shoes before flickering a gaze towards Bruce who let confusion show clear on his face. The scientist was obviously waiting for Percy's response.

"I can't," Percy said finally, "I was….banished."

"'Tis a harsh punishment to be given, but one you can learn from," Thor shook his head in dismay, "tell me, how did you come to work for the Midgardian's?"

"They hired me," Percy muttered, "I have to go."

"The times not up-"

"Fury can cut my pay, I don't care," Percy zipped up his jacket, "It was good meeting you, Thor."

"Have I upset you in some way, son of Jack?" Thor questioned.

"No," Percy fished out his keys, "I just have to be somewhere."

So Percy 'son of Jack' entered the elevator and pressed the button for the bottom floor. Was he running? No. He just couldn't trust Thor to say something he shouldn't. He certainly didn't want to explain to Thor what happened. Hell, he didn't want to explain to anything what happened back at camp. His story was flawed, he could see that now. Every piece of evidence pointed to him. Percy knew that he didn't do it though- he just knew he hadn't killed his cousin and brother.

Getting onto the bike he saw putting on his helmet when he felt a stare burning into his back. Gazing around the street he didn't see anyone looking at him. He put on his helmet and revved up his bike. After parking his bike he headed into his apartment building. He could still feel the stare burning into his back. He turned and saw someone slip into an alley way. Biting his lip he headed up to his apartment and readied his hand on his gun.

He purposely left the door unlocked. It took him only a second to get his sword from the lounge room. He held it in one hand while in the other he clicked the safety off with his gun. He could hear soft leather boots on the wooden floors outside. Only one set though.

He went to the window and checked to see if it may be an ambush. There was nothing. A single attack? Or was it just a curious follower? Percy didn't have time to question it more as the door creaked open. The footsteps paused at the sound and Percy reached down and turned on the TV, giving clear sign he was in the lounge room.

The first thing he saw was a flash of silver. It wasn't blinding in anyway shape or form, but it still made Percy blink. That was all the time the attacker needed. In an instant a javelin was thrown towards him, and he barely managed to jump out of the way. It skewered his TV, making it spark and groan.

"Clarisse?" Percy questioned in surprise before levelling his gun.

"Tell me why," Clarisse stood in the doorway of his living room, sword in hand. She was still as hulking as always, but she seemed to have lost weight. Her muscle mass was less, her hair actually looked neat, but she still had the same killer expression.

"Why what?" Percy rested his finger on the trigger, "it's been five years. You might want to be more specific."

Clarisse moved forward without responding, quick as lightening.

Percy twisted aside at the last second and arced around with his sword, barley missing the daughter of Ares. Clarisse knocked the gun out of Percy's hand then kicked him in the chest. Percy grunted before straightening and feinting towards the left knee. At the last second he went for the stomach, but was blocked. Using brute force Percy managed to lock their swords and use the momentum to push Clarisse up against the wall. He levelled his sword at her neck, while prying hers out of her hand. Percy had grown taller then Clarisse, and he had strengthened his muscles in his training. In a fist fight he would still win- but he knew he wouldn't get away without a couple of his own injuries.

"Let me go, Prissy" Clarisse growled.

"No," Percy had to look down to lock eyes with her, "you can't just attack me in my own home. Let alone destroy my TV! You're going to SHIELD. I already warned Chiron you'll be treated like the rest."

"You've changed, Jackson," Clarisse's whole personality seemed to change in a heartbeat, "no longer daddy's little soldier I take it?"

"What?" Percy asked in confusion. It was enough of a break in concentration for Clarisse to slide a dagger into his side. Percy cried out in pain as it nicked his hip bone and drove through the muscles. Clarisse slipped out from under him, but Percy sliced her with his sword, cutting through her jacket.

"Clarisse!" Percy yelled at her, but the daughter of Ares was already leaving.

"We'll be in touch, Jackson," Clarisse smirked before disappearing.

Once he heard the door shut Percy collapsed to the ground from the pain. Adrenaline was beginning to be burnt off and the pain was so immense black spots filled his vision. The wound was beginning to burn horribly.

_It must be poisoned, _he thought as he gripped the handle. He undid his belt and bit onto it before gripping the dagger handle again. He slid it out and he screamed against the belt as he felt it slide against his hip. Tears of pain welled in his eyes as he dropped the dagger to the ground. It felt as if it had been dipped in water from the River Styx. It hurt more then a bullet wound.

Pressing his hand against it he used his free one to grab his phone from his pocket. Blood leaked from between his fingers, making them sticky and wet. Spitting the belt from his mouth he pressed Clint's number, knowing he was training at base today.

"_Hey Percy, how did your hippy meditating go?" _Clint asked sarcastically.

"Send medics," Percy panted as he stood. It turned out that was a bad idea. Fire burned through his hip and it collapsed beneath him.

"_What happened?" _Clint questioned.

"Just call them and get over here," Percy growled as he forced himself to stand, "I'm at my apartment."

"_You could've just called them yourself," _Clint said in a joking manner, though worry sounded through his voice.

"They don't like me. They listen to you. Just get here," Percy ended the call and hopped towards his kitchen. Starting up the tap he wet a clean wash cloth and pressed it against his side. Some of the fire died down, but it wasn't gone completely. Grunting again he gazed at the wound and wondered why it wasn't closing.

Closing his eyes he gritted his teeth again. Whoever attacked him was not Clarisse. Clarisse may have been rash, but she wouldn't be so stupid as to attack him. Maybe the thing that had gotten to the other demigods had gotten to her…..but why had she let him live then?

He heard his door open again and he watched as Clint entered. He offered his friend a weak smile, but Clint just scowled at him.

"Sit," Clint ordered as he pulled a chair out.

"It nicked my hip," Percy grunted and shook his head, "how'd you get here so fast?"

"I was at my apartment," Clint muttered as he grabbed the wash cloth off Percy and lifted up his friends shirt. Percy averted his eyes and let his friend wash out the wound. "Pass me the vodka."

Percy reached behind him for the requested bottle and had to bite his lip to stop himself from crying out. That just made it sting even worse. The alcohol ran down his hip and soaked into his already bloody jeans. Clint handed the bottle back to him and the young agent had three mouthfuls before setting it down.

"There's saline in the top cupboard," Percy muttered as he pressed the wash cloth back against it.

Clint stood and pulled the saline out of the cupboard and soaked a t-towel in it. Replacing it against the wound on his hip, Percy waited for the wave of relief (it wasn't sea water, but boy did it work better then normal water), but instead found himself hissing out in pain. Since when had salt water actually made his wounds sting?

"What have you two gotten yourself into now?" the pair looked up to see Genevieve, a women of about thirty with a real can-do attitude standing in the doorway, two other SHIELD medics behind them.

"Thank god they sent someone nice," Percy said truthfully.

"It was me or Greg," Genevieve smiled at them as she set her medical bag down, "what happened."

"Stab wound to the hip," Clint began to speak, "bleeding a lot for the area, no major organs or veins punctured. It refuses to close, so maybe some sort of blood thinning agent was on the knife. We've cleaned it with saline but it's had no affect."

Trained in field medicine Clint had gotten straight to the point. Genevieve nodded grimly before ordering one of the medics to take the knife back to the labs, while telling the other to get a chair. Genevieve had Percy lift his leg onto the chair, taking a seat for himself. A myriad of swears escaped his mouth unbidden and he smiled apologetically.

"Here," she took a small needle and shot whatever was in it into his arm. Percy winced at the coldness and prick, but instantly felt relieved as whatever pain reliever it was worked through his system, "it would be best to do this at base."

"If I don't need to go, I won't," Percy replied grimly, "Fury wants my head already."

"This isn't for locking Stark in the cupboard, is it?" Clint questioned with a playful smirk, trying to distract his friend as the SHIELD medic began examining the wound.

"I left that stupid thing with Banner early," Percy grimaced, "Banner told me that I haven't had enough time to prepare and that we'd pick it up next session. Thor decided to drop in, though."

Percy gripped the chair as he felt Genevieve's propping fingers enter the flesh of his hip. Hissing at the pain he tried not to watch as she inspected the depth.

"Lucky us," Clint rolled his eyes, "maybe he'll tell us what punishment Reindeer Games got."

"In Norse mythology they sew his mouth shut," Percy commented idly.

"It's deep," Genevieve spoke up, "nicked the bone from the look of it. It doesn't need to be taken care of at base-"

"I hear a _but _coming," Percy sighed with a smile.

"You will need follows up. I'll need to take blood, possibly some tissue while I'm at it. You'll have to take some blood clot serum while you're at it. If the bleeding doesn't stop within half an hour you go straight to base, got it?" the medic ordered.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Percy rolled his eyes sarcastically. The other SHIELD medic handed him a thick liquid in a vial and he swallowed it sourly. Genevieve went to work slowly stitching up the wound. Clint busied himself with getting the required paper work from the other medic.

"Stay off it for the night. Knowing you, you wont want crutches-"

"You know me too well-"

"- so I'm filing a report for two weeks off for you. Seeing as your magic water powers seemed to have shorted out for the time being. Replace the coverings after you shower. Rub this cream on it before you do that though. After I get a blood sample I'll be on my way," Genevieve finished as she readied a needle. As she pushed it into the fleshy part of his arm she looked at the bandage, "blood thickener is already working. It might have just been an adverse affect to whatever was on the knife. I'll take blood just in case."

After the two medics left, Percy sagged into the chair. Clint was flicking through the incident report that would need to be filled out.

"I'm just going to get changed," Percy pushed himself up out of the chair and tested the weight on his leg. The pain killer that had been shot into his system worked wonders for the moment and he was able to limp to his bedroom with relative ease. After replacing his shirt he carefully removed his boots and pants. He changed into a pair of loose track pants before limping back into the lounge room.

Clint was already waiting in the lounge room, paperwork and pen in hand.

"So what happened?" Clint questioned as he abandoned the report.

So Percy explained how Clarisse had followed him from Stark Towers. He made a point to tell Clint that there was no way that was Clarisse. Percy _knew _Clarisse. Maybe they hadn't been friends, but they had been comrades….he supposed. And the way she said _'we'll be in touch,_' was just plan wrong.

"Was she referring to camp?" Clint questioned, brow crinkled.

"No," Percy shook his head, "that wasn't Clarisse. Clarisse was-_is_- not like that. Whatever got to the other demigods must've gotten to her. I don't get why they're going after me…"

"I guess that's something we'll need to find out," Clint leant back into the chair, "well, not you. You're on leave."

"This won't slow me down," Percy winced as he shifted positions.

"Sure it won't," Clint smirked as he looked around at the damaged lounge room, "where's your cousin?"

"Playing poker in Venice apparently," Percy shrugged carelessly.

**-This is a line break-**

Nico was not playing poker in Venice. Truth be told Nico didn't really like Venice. He much preferred the thriving and cramped Italian cities of Rome or Milan. Venice just….it didn't call to him. The son of Hades was at the place where everything began after everything had ended.

Hades.

Well, to him it was Hades. His fathers domain. To some it was just Hell. Either way it was a place for the damned and worthy (but mostly the damned) to settle after life.

The nineteen year old had not been to his fathers domain for some time. After Bianca went for rebirth he didn't really see the need. It was still the same. Cerberus still wanted to play fetch with a red rubber ball, the lines still stretched the miles, and Elysium was still emptier then it should be.

Strolling through the Fields of Asphodel he ignored the amazed looks he was getting. He realised now how much he really hated attention. After cutting through the Fields of Punishment he reached the place he was looking for, Elysium. With its mismatched houses, happy people and out of this world barbeques it was its little oasis. Walking on the cobbled streets he soon came into the newer areas. Most people from the same time frame tended to live together, and many of the buildings mirrored those of the dead's childhood era. The house he was looking for turned out to be a nice and simple one story house with a neat garden, off cream outside, and a brass handled door knob.

Knocking he dug his hands into his pockets and waited for an answer. When the door opened Nico was given the view of a man of about thirty, already showing signs of balding, and a rather serious but somehow trust worthy face. Nico knew this was not what Phil Coulson had looked liked before he died. No, all spirits tended to go back to the time when they were most happy with their body. Old became young, sometimes young even became old. It was just the way death worked.

"Phil Coulson?" Nico questioned even though he knew the mans name.

"Can I help you?" he seemed to looked Nico up and down. Taking in the dark clothing, slightly dark feel and the strangely familiar mess of shaggy black hair.

"My names Nico Di Angelo," He stuck out a hand.

The man raised an eyebrow and shook his hand, "Agent Jacksons cousin?"

"Yes," Nico replied.

"You're very popular up here," Agent Coulson commented lightly. Nico gave a small frown. _Up here_. Obviously Agent Coulson had not truly believed he would go to Hades when he passed on. Perhaps to him it was heaven.

"Not surprised," Nico gave a small smile.

"Would you like to come in?" the former Agent stepped aside.

"No, sorry. I don't want to spend to much time, uh, _up _here," Nico gazed around, "I just came to say thank you."

"For what?" Coulson asked with genuine confusion.

"For taking care of Percy," Nico folded his arms over his chest. He had been compelled to come here. This man had been the one to no doubt keep Percy on the right track, to make him the great man he was today, "he told me what you did for him."

"I did what any good man would do," Coulson replied, though obviously caught off guard by the comment.

"Good men seem to be in short supply these days," Nico muttered with a dark undertone in his voice. He coughed slightly before speaking up again, "just…..thanks. I brought these down for you."

Nico dug into his jacket and pulled out his vintage set of Captain America trading cards, signed by Captain America himself. He had locked them away with him Mythomagic figurines long ago. He had never really been obsessed with Captain America. To him he was just another part of the American war Theatre that was mentioned now and then.

"My mother had one of her friends in the service to get him to sign them for me when Captain America was doing the war tour," Nico shrugged, "I don't have any use for them now. Percy told me you were a fan."

Coulson took the cards and gazed at them. Near mint condition, slight boxing around the edges, but that was to be expected. How old was this boy? He looked no older then nineteen and yet he had said his mother had gotten them for him.

"It's too much-"

"Just take them Agent Coulson," Nico scuffed his foot, "take it as a thank you."

"I'll take good care of them," the Agent closed his palm around them.

"I best be going," Nico looked at the shadows that was cast by and old oak tree.

"Nice meeting you," Phil stuck out his hand.

"You too," Nico shook it before walking into the shadows and disappearing.

Phil closed the door to his little home away from home and looked at the cards. For some reason just being told a simple _thank you_ made dealing with your death a whole lot easier.

**Finished the chapter! Ya! I just had to add in the end bit. I've recently come into the Supernatural fandom (I've watched six seasons in two weeks, another reason for slow updating), so if you know any good fanfictions (length doesn't matter) I'd love to know about them (no slash or noncon please).  
**


	10. Chapter 10

Annabeth tried to pay attention to what Miss Potts was saying—she honestly did. Her grey eyes were trained on her laptop while her fingers flew over the keys. Her ears picked up each and every word the CEO of the multi-billion dollar company was saying. She herself thought she was doing a very good job.

"-Mr Stark is not a fan of the colour orange, so please keep that out of his room at all costs," Miss Potts continued.

Annabeth blinked for a moment and stared at her laptop screen. The words, _don't forget to by oranges_, flashed on the white word document. Brows furrowing in confusion, she gazed up at Miss Potts, "sorry, Miss Potts, I seemed to have fazed out…"

Annabeth would've sworn she was listening. Maybe she was just a little out of it. Work wasn't her key priority at the moment. She had gotten a message last night from Chiron, one she had been dreading. _Thalia hasn't returned from her hunt. _Maybe it was nothing get worked up about. She was only three days over due…but with the string of demigod disappearances. Drew, Will, and even now Clarisse...Annabeth was worried whoever was taking the Demigods was working their way up the food chain.

"Not a problem," Potts smiled at her, "you seem a little…fazed."

"Just a late night, that's all," Annabeth gave what she thought was a reassuring smile, "you were saying something about orange?"

"Mr Stark doesn't like a lot of orange-"

"Unless its involved in flames, explosions or carrots," Tony Stark himself walked into the room, coffee in one hand and a plate of Hot Pockets in the other, "have you ever seen whale poo? That just completely ruined the colour orange for me-"

"Tony," Potts shook her head as she replied to a message, "manners."

"Right," Tony stuck out the plate of Hot Pockets towards Annabeth, "Hot Pocket."

"Uh, no thank you," Annabeth replied with a polite shake of her head.

"Good, 'cuz they're mine," the billionaire set down the coffee, "I can't make that meeting tomorrow."

"You said you would go," Pepper said in a low voice.

"Bruce decided to move in. I can't just leave the good doctor," Tony replied, "why don't you go? You like sushi."

"But you're the one who can speak Japanese," Pepper replied, "I'll go if you attend the board meeting Monday."

"Deal," Tony replied with a beaming smile.

Annabeth, thanks to the distraction, got time to read through her notes before shutting the laptop down. Slipping it into her bag she felt her hand brush her bronze dagger. For a moment she let herself grip the hilt, feeling some of her troubles just melt away at its touch. Shaking herself mentally she let the dagger go and straightened up.

"I need your help with this," Dr Banner suddenly entered Peppers office.

"Is this 'bombard Potts' day?" Pepper muttered to herself.

"Sorry, Miss Potts," Bruce said truthfully before turning to Tony, "Its Nano."

"Nano?" Tony asked.

"The-" he looked at Annabeth, "-we should talk out in the hall."

As the two scientists exited the room, Annabeth stood up and gathered up her bag. "I better be going," she said apologetically, "I'll have the first 3-D scale ready by the time you come back."

"Thank you for your time," Pepper said.

Annabeth was about to walk out into the hall, but she saw the coffee Mr Stark had left. Picking it up she went into the hall and found the two geniuses speaking at lightening fast speed.

"That would have caused outwards irregularities-" Tony was saying.

"Not at it's position. By the positioning it was placed it would have had to be done by someone at the top of their field. The surgery itself would've taken hours. Death rate would be high-"

"You left your coffee," Annabeth said during a pause.

"Thank you," Tony took it and filled his mouth with the dark drink. He then bit into a Hot Pocket, "but why these people? What do they offer from different people? Mutants?"

Annabeth turned towards the elevator and stepped aside as it opened. A man she had seen in the tower before, close cropped blonde hair and blue eyes, walked out. He wore a blue jacket and Annabeth realised it was exactly like Percy's. A bird was spread out in a circle, obviously a logo of some sort. Their arms brushed as he walked past, and Annabeth felt the hairs on her arm rise.

"Stay away, Bird Brain," Stark threatened.

"I have a message from Fury," the agent replied calmly.

"So you're his messenger hawk?" Stark smirked.

"You have to go to Agent Jacksons apartment. He can't come to you," the agent crossed his arms over his chest.

Annabeth entered the elevator and tried to think about what the agent meant. What would Percy be doing with a doctor? Her mind began to run at a million miles an hour, but she quickly stopped it. Now wasn't the time to worry about her ex. She had to worry about Thalia.

The daughter of Athena caught a taxi to camp. She entered the oasis and smiled at the smell of strawberries. Slinging her handbag onto her shoulder she begun down to the Big House. She needed to know if any news on Thalia had come in.

"Hello, Annabeth," Chiron smiled from his position at the Pinochle table.

"Hi," Annabeth set her bag down at the table, "is there any news."

Chiron had long since gotten used to Annabeth's blunt manner. Sighing to himself he replied, "the Hunters managed to track down where she last was…."

"But?"

"We didn't find any clue to where she is. There was no sign of a fight. Only one set of tire tracks," Chiron rose out of his wheel chair and pulled something out of his saddle bag. Annabeth held it eagerly, expecting maybe or claw or scale, but instead she was handed a scrap of fabric. It was thick and felt like leather, but somehow the intricate navy blue fabric felt tougher and more durable.

"I know this," Annabeth looked at the scrap of fabric, "I'll be back."

She grabbed her bag and rushed down to the Hephaestus cabin. She thanked the gods when she found Jake, the most well trained ex-camper. He had left camp to get a job as a mechanic two years ago, but still spent time at his second home.

"Jake, I need you to hack into the government mainframe," Annabeth shoved her laptop towards him.

"Huh? What?" He spluttered in surprise.

"Look for an agency with this symbol," Annabeth quickly scribbled out the symbol on a scrap bit of paper.

"I'll try, I'm not the best hacker-"

"Please, Jake," Annabeth pressed.

"Okay," Jake's fingers began flying over the keyboard with practiced skill. His brow furrowed as he hit fire wall after fire wall. It was a long twenty minutes, but Jake finally came up victorious.

"It's called SHIELD," Jake turned the computer around, "Strategic, Homeland Intervention, Enforcement Logistics Division. Files are locked. I can't even tell you what they do."

"Thank you," Annabeth took the laptop and headed back up to the Big House. Setting it down in front of Chiron she began to explain her sudden departure. "This material, someone was wearing a jacket with the exact same colour and texture at Stark Towers. He was a government agent of some sort. I've seen Percy wearing it as well-"

"Percy?" Chiron questioned, "what do you mean, child?"

"I've seen Percy a lot. I haven't spoken to him. But that's not important," Annabeth said, "they both had this logo-" she pointed at the screen, "-on their jackets. The departments called SHIELD. Isn't that on the note that person wrote you?"

"Indeed it is," Chiron gazed at the computer screen.

"Percy works for them. He might've told whoever runs it about Demigods. What if he-"

"Calm down, Annabeth," Chiron said calmly, "I see your point."

"What are we going to do about it?" Annabeth questioned.

"I'll call in a meeting."

**-This is a Line Break-**

It had been two days since Percy had been stabbed. His wound had begun to heal at the slow paced normal way. It was achy, sore to touch, and bruising. The only thing that made behind stuck at home slightly better was the news that Dr Banner had located a possible suspect for the Demigod attacks yesterday.

Today though, Percy didn't have time to worry about that though. He had woken up to a bright and glorious day, only to feel a heavy weight sink to the bottom of his stomach. He let his gaze fall to the window where his Moonlace bloomed. He rolled out of bed and walked with his little limp (Nico called it a pimp limp) and showered. He did the usual medical routine before limping out to the kitchen.

"Hey," Nico said from where he was skilfully cooking pancakes, "you want some pancakes?"

"Since when do you cook?" Percy questioned as he pulled his riding jacket off the hook.

"Since always," Nico said in return, "you want some?"

"No," Percy said abruptly, before adding, "thank you."

There was a silence between them as Percy fished out his keys. Nico knew what day it was. How could he not? He grimly set the pancakes on the table and tried to do the one thing he wasn't good at- -comforting.

"Do you want some company?" Nico grimaced at his own words.

"I'm good," Percy found his keys, "I'll be back by ten."

Percy headed down to the street and swung gingerly onto his motorcycle. He hissed in pain as his injured hip moved. He had been ordered to stay home as much as possible, but he couldn't do that today. He drove to a small florist a couple blocks away and picked up some Cherry Blossoms. He put them carefully into his jacket, letting the pink buds show through.

It didn't take him long to reach his destination. When he did he took off his helmet and took the flowers from his jacket. Flattening his hear and straightening his top he began into the grave yard. It was rather solemn. And lonely. It was always lonely.

He soldiered on though. He walked between the graves and stopped at the two headstones. He stared at the names for a moment before kneeling down and placing the flowers against the headstone.

"Hey, mom," he said in a whisper, feeling stupid. He did this every year, on the same date, at the same time, "hey, Paul."

He stood at the base of the two graves for a full hour, ignoring the steady throb of his hip. It had been about five years since his parents died. Killed over the money in their wallets. Paul had taken the shot for his mother, but his mother had died anyway.

_It was quick_, they said, _it would've been like falling asleep._

Percy knew that was a lie. He knew what being shot felt like. It felt nothing like going to sleep. It was a rippling, firey agony that never seemed to end. He could still remember clearly the knock on his apartment door, the solemn look on the officers faces.

"_Can we come in_?" they had asked.

"_What's wrong?_" He had questioned.

"_Its best if you sit down," _

And so he had sat. He had listened. And he had died a little inside.

Each and every year and he came and stood at the graves. It was silly. It wasn't like they could hear him. It helped him though. It was a moment to remember the good, the bad, and the down right hilarious. When the hour passed he walked through the grave yard again and climbed onto his motor cycle, then headed home.

At his apartment he found the door unlocked- not a big surprise. He was surprised though to find Dr Banner sitting at his kitchen table, nursing a glass of water.

"Who let you in?" Percy questioned, sounding harsher then he expected.

"Your cousin," Banner replied, "Agent Barton told me the sessions would be happening here for a while."

"Yeah," Percy grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, "you can imagine my joy."

"Mine as well," Banner pursed his lips.

"You'd think discovering a break through of Nano technology at the base of someone's brain would class as a 'get out of meditation free' card," Percy said sarcastically as he winced.

"You'd think," Banner frowned, "what's your reason?"

"Stabbed in the hip," Percy replied with a hint of sarcasm, "stuck at home until cleared for duty."

"I thought you were, uh, a fast healer," Banner pointed out.

"Not this time," Percy said sarcastically, "Lets get this done with, shall we?"

Bruce pushed the water aside and looked Percy up and down, "you look tired."

Percy rolled his eyes, "lets just say todays not exactly a day I want to spend meditating."

"As long as you don't fall asleep," Bruce said with a tentative smile, "why don't we work on breathing exercises-"

There was a solid knock on the door and Percy froze. Clint and Natasha didn't knock, neither would Nico. That meant it was either Fury or something work related. Standing with a wince he walked down the hall and opened the door, hand resting near the gun in his waist band.

Percy had not been expecting to see a man in a wheelchair. He looked like a teacher with his tweed jacket and light beard. Percy rested his hand on his gun, feeling the coolness of it calm him. Behind him was the tall and graceful blonde- Annabeth Chase.

Neither looked happy.

"Percy," Chiron said, "we need to talk."

**I am not at all sorry for the cliff hanger.**


	11. Chapter 11

His hand clenched around the door frame, while his free hand clenched around the cool metal of his gun. For a moment he just stood- -shocked by the sudden appearance. His heart missed a beat and something inside of him cracked. Anger? Hatred? No. It was…..confusion. A wall of confusion crashed down onto him and brought with it waves of shock and detestation.

"No,"

The word escaped his mouth unbidden, and for the first time in a long time, Percy didn't care that he had let his concentration slip. He felt like hanging his head and scuffing his feet, but instead he stood tall. He stood like he had just won a great battle. He stood proud and unwavering while everything inside him crumbled. Just the sight of Chiron's fatherly brown eyes and the feel of the old centaurs warm aura made him want to sink to his knees.

Since when had he been so weak? He took a moment to breath it all in before looking yet again Chiron.

"Whatever it is, the answers no," Percy loosened his grip on his gun and pursed his lips.

"I don't expect you to accept, just hear us out," Chiron folded his hands in his lap while Annabeth folded her arms over her chest.

"No," Percy repeated.

"Thalia's missing," Annabeth stated.

"And let me guess, Clarisse and Drew are as well?" Percy tried to keep his face stoic.

"I knew you had something to do with it," Annabeth glowered at him. Percy realised Annabeth's cold grey stare didn't unnerve him anymore. He met her gaze with a glare of his own.

"Yes, I hunted them down personally," Percy rolled his eyes.

Chiron coughed to draw the attention back to himself, "Percy," he began, "we would not be coming to you unless it was absolutely necessary. Thalia is the forth Demigod to disappear and we've managed to trace evidence back to SHIELD."

"It's SHIELD's job to be involved in things like this," Percy stared down at Chiron, "we have an office." He deadpanned.

"Just please pass this on to your superiors," Chiron fished out a neat white envelope and held it out. Percy took it gingerly and held it in his hand. "We won't bother you any longer."

Chiron rolled himself down the hall, but Annabeth remained for a moment. She took a step forward and glared at Percy with all her might. Percy raised a challenging eyebrow at her, as if egging her on.

"If I find out SHIELD has been doing this, I swear I'll hunt you down myself," Annabeth threatened in a low voice.

"I'd like to see you try," Percy returned, his eyes as cold as ice.

"I'm not afraid of you," she retorted.

"You should be," Percy said in return, "I've changed."

"You stopped-"

"Annabeth," Chiron said from the end of the hall.

As soon as Annabeth turned away, Percy closed the door and walked back into the kitchen. Dr Banner was sitting at the table with a raised eyebrow. Percy in return pulled his gun out and chucked it on the kitchen bench. For a moment he breathed deeply to calm himself down. He then proceeded to open the envelope and look at the letter written in neat handwriting.

_To Whom it May Concern,_

_I am sure by now you are aware of the Greeks Gods presence in this world. We have come across a problem that may be of interest to you. The following former students of our establishment have been reported missing: Thalia Grace, Will Solace, Clarisse La Rue and Drew Tanaka. The evidence that we have managed to collect-_

Percy crumpled the letter in his hand and slapped it down on the bench. This wasn't camps problem anymore. It was officially a problem weird enough for SHIELD. Sitting down again he rubbed his face and glanced at Bruce. The doctor looked rather confused, but somehow seemed to cover it.

"I'm guessing that wasn't a door to door salesman," Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"I'd prefer the salesman," Percy muttered to himself, "you were saying?"

"Breathing exercises," Bruce started off when were he was before, "if you master your breathing that should help you with mediation."

They spent twenty minutes working through the breathing. Percy found with each deep breath he relaxed a little more. He felt stupid doing it, but it honestly did help. It was like as kid when he would cry and his mother would tell him to take 'three deep breaths'. They were about to move onto what calmed him when Bruce's phone began to ring. The doctor apologised and answered it anyway.

"Banner," he answered.

The Doctor paused for moment as the person on the other end spoke rapidly. Little crinkles formed in his brow and Percy wondered who it was who had called.

"Be there in ten," Bruce replied before hanging up, "that was Tony- Mr Stark. He just successfully recreated the Nano technology. I really should go."

"It's fine," Percy replied as he stood with a wince.

"I can show myself out," Bruce gave an apologetic smile as he eyes moved to Percy's hip.

"Thanks," Percy said gratefully.

"Fury said to give this to you," Bruce fished a manila file out of his side bag, "he said he wanted you to look it over."

Percy nodded his thanks and took the file. He heard the front door close- signalling Bruce had left. Percy stood up and grabbed his gun. He frowned at it momentarily. It needed a clean. God, how long had it been since he cleaned it? Setting the file down he grabbed his cleaning kit from under his sink and was about to sit back down when his gaze focused on the letter. He felt anger swell up in him at the sight of it and in one swift move he crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the sink.

Fury wouldn't want to work with Camp. SHIELD didn't like working with others. It was dangerous, risky, and you couldn't always trust everyone. Just to become a member of SHIELD you usually had to have a certain amount of training in a certain field.

With a sigh, Percy sat down at the table and prepared to disassemble his gun. It was lucky he didn't though. At the sound of footsteps he was up in a flash and the gun trained between the eyes of whoever it was. Tall with black hair and green eyes Percy felt his heart skip a beat for the third time that day.

The son of Poseidon stared into his fathers eyes and felt wave after wave of emotion roll through him. Poseidon didn't seem at all alarmed by the gun- - nor the hatred in his sons eyes. Percy himself slowly clicked the safety back on and placed it down on the table. Out of grip but not out of reach.

"You've grown," Poseidon stated as he walked over to the sink and pulled out the crumpled note.

"I'm twenty three. Its been five years. Of course I've grown," Percy couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Yes," Poseidon was suddenly holding a new crisp white envelope, "it is important Director Fury gets that letter."

"To you, maybe," Percy folded his arms over his chest and tried to reign in his emotions.

"Your uncle is not happy about your cousins disappearance," Poseidon stated.

"He's not my uncle and she is not my cousin," Percy spat. He remembered a time when all he wanted was his fathers respect and pride, but now he wanted nothing to do with the god of the sea. As far as Percy was concerned, Poseidon had lost his spot in the _'father of the year_' competition.

"But I'm still your father," Poseidon said as he stepped forward and placed a hand on Percy's shoulder, "just look into it, please."

"As far as I'm concerned I stopped being your son the moment Tyler came along," Percy jerked Poseidon's hand off his shoulder, "if you were my father you wouldn't have let them cast me out. You would've believed me. Hell, you would've helped me!"

"I've made a mistake-"

"A mistake?" Percy was beginning to visibly shake with anger. His father thought he'd made a _mistake?_ "I had nobody! No family, no job, hardly any money! If it wasn't for SHIELD I would've ended up on the streets."

"If I knew how hard the punishment would be-"

"No. You've been around long enough to know the punishment they would give me. You could've said something!" Percy clenched his fists in his fury. He never would've spoken to a god like this before but honestly he was done with it all. He was done with bowing down to people who would do nothing to help him. He was tired of hoping that one day someone would come along and say _'you know Percy, you've done a lot for us.'_

"You do this with every son. When I came around, you forgot about Triton. When Tyler popped up you forgot about me. You're just as bad as the rest of them," Percy spat.

"You have no right to say that," Poseidon drew himself up.

"Yeah?" Percy questioned, "what's today?"

Poseidon seemed to stop for a moment. Percy took the brief break to collect himself. He had already lost his cool. He just couldn't stand the fact that his father came in here and expect Percy to act like everything was okay. It was the first time Percy had seen his father in five years and he had come not to apologise or rekindle, but rather to ask a favour.

"Sally," Poseidon breathed finally.

"Your forgot, didn't you," Percy felt what little control he had managed to collect disappear completely. "You called her a queen among women and you can't even remember the day that she died!"

A tense silence hung in the air between them.

"Just leave," Percy stated finally, "I'll pass on the stupid letter…..just leave."

The smell of the sea told Percy that his father had left. Shaking with anger Percy grabbed the nearest thing (it turned out to be a plate from the side of the sink) and threw it at the wall, watching as it shattered into tiny pieces. Gripping his hair with one hand and clenching the other into a fist. Did his father think he was sort of pawn who would just come when called? That maybe they would hug and it would be forgotten.

Poseidon not even remembering when his mother died was the straw that broke the camels back. Percy grabbed the cup of water off the table and flung it at the wall, watching as it shattered. Today wasn't his day.

"Redecorating?" Nico questioned from the doorway.

"Shut up," Percy said fiercely, "just shut up."

"What happened?" Nico questioned as he walked deeper into the kitchen.

"Poseidon visited," Percy sat down heavily in a chair.

"Oh,"

"And Chiron," Percy added.

"Crap,"

"And Annabeth."

"Today just isn't your day," Nico said helplessly, "what did they want?"

"They want SHIELD to look into the demigod disappearances with them," Percy let out an anger filled sigh.

"Something else happened, didn't it?" Nico questioned.

"He didn't even remember what today was," Percy muttered angrily, "he said he loved her and yet he couldn't even remember."

"Hades," Nico swore, "I thought he was different."

"So did I," Percy said sadly before standing up, "I need to speak with Fury."

"You want me to do anything?" Nico asked helplessly.

"I'm good," Percy grabbed his gun and stuffed it into the waistband.

"Don't do anything stupid," Nico called after him.

"No promises," Percy said in return as he headed down to his bike.

Swinging onto it he roared into the streets. The letter felt heavy in his pocket and he hoped to god Fury wouldn't accept whatever proposition Chiron had put up. He reached the offices and hoped Fury would be in. With a simple swipe of his card and an input of a pin he was allowed access to the main office floors. He knocked on the large wooden door that lead to Fury's office and waited to hear a reply.

"Come in," Fury replied.

Percy entered. His presence made a hint of surprise flitter across Fury's face before it quickly disappeared. Percy moved closer to the large desk and pulled out the envelope. Fury held out his hand and opened it with a questioning eyebrow.

"They've noticed the missing demigods as well," was all Percy offered.

Fury finished the letter and by the end of it seemed extremely unimpressed.

"I want to know how they found us," Fury set the letter down.

"Don't look at me," Percy folded his arms over his chest.

"I'll set up a meeting," Fury said to himself.

"I want to be involved, sir," Percy said straight away.

"You're on house rest," Fury began punching the numbers into his phone.

"I know more about them then you, sir," Percy said.

"This isn't going to turn into some personal mission for revenge, is it, Agent Jackson?" Fury pressed the phone against his ear.

"No promises,"

**Sorry, just had to post this chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

"_Useless."_

"_Murderer."_

"_Not the man I knew."_

"_You've changed."_

"_Traitor."_

"_Mistake."_

"_Liar."_

Percy rocketed up in his bed, green eyes glazed with sleep as they searched his room wildly for the source of the voices. He blinked a couple of times and rubbed his face. His clock read _2:42am. _Groaning to himself he wanted to fall back against the pillows and sleep for eternity. The haunted memory of the dream wouldn't allow him though. It was a common dream. He would find himself in the darkness with only voices to keep him company.

The sudden feeling of wetness against his hip made him snap away from his thoughts though. Ripping the sheets off his stared at the midnight black liquid pooling on his stark white sheets. For a moment he looked at in shock, but then his instincts kicked in. Turning on his lamp, the liquid turned red- - the true colour of blood. Dragging himself out of the bed he watched with odd interest as blood leaked through the bandage. His face was set in a grimace as he limped on the suddenly tender leg towards his bathroom.

When inside the bathroom he turned on the light and opened his medicine cabinet. Pulling out the blood thickening pills he swallowed them dry then set on redressing the stitches. He had thought maybe the stitches had split, but they were still perfect and neat. Pressing some gauze against it he hissed in pain and gripped the sink.

Why did it hurt so much? Percy didn't know the answer. He just did what he could. Stripping down to his birthday suit he cleaned away the blood and rewrapped the wound. He dug out a new pair of boxers, a singlet and sweats before limping back to his room. He ripped the sheets off his bed and threw them into a corner of the room. He'd deal with in the morning.

Seeing as sleep would now become futile he opened up the window and climbed out onto the fire escape. Sitting down he stretched his leg out on the cool metal and sighed in relief. He played with the glowing Moonlace flowers idly as he tried to figure out why it would bleed like that. The results from the lab hadn't come in yet, so he had no idea if it was a toxin, poison or just a blood thinner. He knew he would have to go and see Genevieve soon if it kept happening.

"You seem to have a habit of waking up at off hours," a voice commented from the edge of the fire escape.

Percy gazed up at the jogging suit clad man in surprise. He looked like your average, run of the mill jogger. Salt and pepper black hair complimented a mischievous and friendly face. He looked like someone you would see in the line at the post office.

"Hermes?" Percy asked thoroughly confused.

Hermes and Hestia had been the only ones against his banishment. They had been there for him. Hermes had told him before the trial to stay strong. If anything, Hermes had taken up the role of the father, rather then that of the cousin. Percy hadn't seem Hermes since his was banished.

"One and only," Hermes said, his eyes twinkling like the lights of the city, "you've grown."

Instead of answering with animosity- like he had with his father- he instead cracked a smile, "unlike some people, I age."

"The pains of being mortal," Hermes chuckled and watched as Percy stood, "already having hip troubles?"

"You could say that," Percy grimaced as he folded his arms over his chest, "are you here to appeal to me?"

"They don't even know I'm here," Hermes scoffed, "they stopped watching you a while ago."

"They were watching me?" Percy asked surprised.

"You did join the most powerful government agency in the world off the bat," Hermes chuckled, "Athena thought you might try to bring us down. I punched her in the face."

"You what?" Percy asked surprised.

"What are cousins for?" Hermes shrugged.

"So why are you here?" Percy questioned as he leant on the rail. Just the presence of the kind hearted god made the memories of the dream begin to fade away.

"Connors missing," Hermes stated sadly, "its been three days. His wife filed a report last night."

"You want a favour?" Percy scoffed as the anger begin to burn a little bit.

"I want my son to be safe," Hermes corrected in a soft voice.

The fire was quenched at the sound of it. Hermes sounded so defeated. His eyes looked tired. It was as if just the thought of loosing one more son did more to him then he cared to notice.

"You're the only one with the right connections," Hermes finished sadly.

"You're not doing this because of what Poseidon said?" Percy questioned.

"I haven't spoken to uncle in many years. I stay to myself now. Hestia keeps me company," Hermes said grimly, "punching your sister in the face puts you in others bad books."

_It was awesome! _A little voice piped up. Most likely George.

"Chiron is meeting with the Director tomorrow- I mean today- to talk about it," Percy pursed his lips, "I'll bring it up."

"Thank you," Hermes nodded honestly. With his piercing eyes he looked Percy up and down, "you've changed."

"_You've changed."_

"_Traitor."_

"_Mistake."_

"_Liar."_

"I've been told," Percy said darkly.

"But for the better," Hermes commented lightly, "you've learnt who your enemies are and you've learnt that you don't have to take everything people throw at you. You've grown into the perfect son."

Percy was stunned into silence for a moment. _For the better_. It had been so long since Percy had actually been told that his 'change' was for the better. Looking down at the street below he nodded his thanks and said his thanks out loud.

"I best be going," Hermes dug into his pocket and pulled out a little parcel, "I managed to swipe this."

"What is it?" Percy questioned as he took the package.

"You'll see," Hermes responded.

Hermes disappeared into the night and left Percy with the rectangular package. He climbed back into his room and sat on his bed. He ripped apart the wrapping and looked at the…photos. Percy couldn't help but let a small smile flash across his face at the sight of an image of him and his mother down at Montauk for his seventeenth birthday. He flickered through them, feeling warm at the sight of his mothers smiling face. He didn't have many photos…of anyone. He had smashed some in his anger many years ago, and the others from camp he had burnt. He got to the bottom of the stack and watched as a piece of paper fluttered down onto the floor.

Picking up, he began to read.

_I thought you might like these. Consider it an apology. I should've been there for you. I wasn't there for Luke and I don't want to make that mistake again. If you need help, just call._

_-Hermes,_

_Your friendly neighbourhood messenger._

Smiling a little Percy set the photos and note down on his bed stand. He walked into the hall and grabbed a spare blanket from the cupboard before settling back down in his room. For a moment he just lay on his bed, relishing the thought that someone was actually looking out for him.

For the rest of the night he slept easy.

In the morning though it was a race against time. With his suddenly achy hip he was forced to change the dressing again, put his bloody sheets into the washing machine, make breakfast, polish his sword, find clean clothes….It was horrible. He did all of this with his limp while Nico slept sound asleep in the guest room. Percy tried to make as much noise as possible so his cousin would wake up, but Nico was sleeping like the dead.

"By, Nico!" Percy called unnecessarily loudly.

"Shut up!" He heard Nico's muffled reply.

Down on the street he slid his sword neatly into the compartment before getting on. The meeting at the office building. Percy didn't know why Fury agreed to set up a meeting. The son of Poseidon was glad he had now; he had to at least Hermes some hope of finding his son.

"You've been assigned to a case?" Natasha questioned as stepped out of the building, dressed in jeans, a black singlet and her SHIELD jacket.

"Not officially," Percy pulled his sword from his bike and walked towards the entrance of the building, "I'm here for the meeting with the Greeks. What are you here for?"

"The same as you," Natasha replied as she matched his stride, watching as he skilfully attached his sword to his waistband, "its been named?"

"And what is it called?" Percy asked with fake happiness.

"Nano Project," Natasha replied as she swiped her card, "Clint's been assigned as well."

"We need our best trio to be on this," Fury rounded a corner, followed by Clint.

"I'm honoured, sir," Percy said with a mocking smile.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Jackson," Fury said, "you have to pass the preliminaries. This afternoon at three. If you don't pass, you're off."

Percy sighed. The preliminaries were physical tests you had to go through after an injury. Percy supposed he should count himself lucky. A couple days was better then three weeks.

"Meeting room C at ten," Fury said before walking off.

"How'd you get him to put you on?" Clint questioned as they walked down the hall.

"I asked," Percy said honestly.

"No one gets what they want from Fury by just asking. Did you sell your soul? Become his sex buddy?" Clint joked lightly.

"Too far," Percy replied with a grimace, "I need coffee."

They went to the canteen and got a cup of coffee each. As they sat down at one of the tables, Percy couldn't help but wince slightly. Natasha- always watchful- raised an eyebrow at him.

"Its still tender," he explained as he sipped on his coffee.

"You won't pass the preliminaries," Natasha commented lightly.

"He can't keep me off this case," Percy said with absolute certainty.

"I thought you would've wanted to stay as far away as possible?" Clint finished his coffee.

"I feel connected to this. And just not because I got attacked," Percy said quickly, "besides, maybe I have people I need to send a message to."

"Like Budapest?" Clint questioned.

"Not as violent as Budapest," Percy laughed at the inside joke.

Natasha stood up without a word and Percy glanced at his watch. Seeing what time it was he and Clint followed behind the red headed master assassin.

"You need to work on your people skills," Percy commented as he got into step with Natasha, "how about a nice 'time to go?'"

"You want me to be polite?" Natasha cast a sidelong look at him.

"I was thinking more along the lines of….considerate," Percy gave her a smile.

"If you want me to be considerate, you're in the wrong line of work," Natasha commented with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you even have a soul?" Percy said the ongoing joke that was going around the SHIELD interns.

Natasha didn't even blink, she instead neatly turned around and pinned Percy to the wall. The agent could have easily deflected, but instead he left the female do it.

"What intern started it?" Natasha questioned.

"Clint did," Percy chuckled light heartedly.

"Jackson, you don't tell her that," Clint chuckled as well, "bros before hoes."

Percy knew that Natasha really couldn't give a damn. It was a personal joke between the trio, Natasha was the soulless, Clint the literal bird, and Percy was always hungry. It stemmed from their time on their first mission to Istanbul when Percy had been caught eating a Twinkie on a stakeout by Clint who was hiding in the rafters. Long story short, Natasha had proceeded to throw the Twinkie in the fire.

"I pray to god they don't have any twinkies," Percy laughed, but the sound was cut off as he watched an agent lead Chiron and Annabeth around the corner. Annabeth seemed to flare with anger at the sight of Percy pinned to a wall by Natasha ( was it the possibility that someone was threatening Percy when that was her job?) and Chiron seemed to get a questioning look in his eyes.

"Agents," the agent leading Chiron and Annabeth said with a nod, "you can take it from here?"

"We've got it," Natasha nodded as she stepped back from Percy.

The agent disappeared back the way he came, and Percy took the moment to straighten himself out. He saw Annabeth's eyes trail over his sword in questioned, trying to figure out why he even had one.

"I'm Agent Romanoff," Natasha commented, "and that is Agent Barton. You already know Agent Jackson-" Percy felt like laughing, "-we've been assigned to the case."

"A pleasure to meet you, Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton," Chiron nodded his welcome, "shall we get going?"

Natasha walked ahead, her stride determined. Percy and Clint waited for the pair to pass before taking up the flank. Annabeth's eyes trailed over Clint for a moment, obviously recognising him. Once Clint and Percy were a save distance behind, Clint took the moment to raise an eyebrow.

"I pictured her to be more…." Clint made a rather grumpy face, making Percy smile lightly.

The meeting room was the usual SHIELD affair. Black, clean cut and basic. Fury was already waiting and Percy took his seat near the end of the table, eagre to get the weight off his leg. Natasha sat down on one side, and Clint on the other, unconsciously flanking him.

"I'm glad we could have this meeting, Director Fury," Chiron said as he looked up at Fury.

"I'm hoping it will clear many things up," Fury nodded as well before looking at Annabeth, "Miss Chase."

"Director," Annabeth nodded.

"Lets get down top business, shall we?" Fury stood at the head of the conference table, "Clarisse La Rue and Will Solace are currently being searched for with our facial recognition scanners."

"Add Connor Stoll to that list," Percy spoke up, "his wife filed a police report last night. He's been missing for three days."

"How did you know about that?" Annabeth questioned.

"I have my ways," Percy replied with a smirk.

"Thank you, Agent Jackson," Fury cut off the conversation.

"What about Drew Tanaka?" Chiron questioned.

"She passed away," Fury said, "acid in her blood. Clarisse La Rue also broke into Agent Jacksons apartment with intention to kill."

"We want to help in anyway possible," Chiron said with honest intentions.

"We need to know why these campers? What do they have that the others don't?" Fury said as he folded his arms behind his back.

"They're what we call senior campers. They're part of the most skilled generation of campers we've ever had," Annabeth spoke up, "We're…..battle ready."

Percy coughed to hide his laughter.

"So they're better attackers?" Natasha questioned.

"Yes," Chiron said, "skilled with many archaic weapons."

"Is there a possibility this isn't a revenge mission? They could be sending the people they don't like to do their bidding," Clint commented lightly, "maybe someone who they felt got wronged?"

"We were a very close knit group," Annabeth commented sourly, "but theirs only one person who I can think of who'd do something like that."

"Don't you dare turn this on me," Percy barked out harshly, whatever good mood he had managed to build crumbling.

"I never said it was you. Feeling guilty?" Annabeth asked with a mocking smirk.

"More like feeling sick of your bull-"

"Agent Jackson," Fury said in a deadly voice, "contain yourself."

"Yes, sir," Percy clenched his jaw.

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth muttered under her breath.

The nick name was no longer affectionate. Rather, it was spoken with malice and hatred. Like his very existence was a crime against humanity. Percy gripped the hilt of his sword so hard his knuckles turned white. Natasha placed a hand on his and gave him a stern glare.

"Permission to leave, sir," Percy stated slowly and carefully.

"Granted," Fury said with a nod, "I'll speak to you at preliminary."

"Yes, sir," Percy nodded as he walked out of the room.

He knew that if he stayed in that room he would be kicked off the case. He needed to stay on it for the sake of…..well for his own sake. He couldn't help but connect the dots between some things. Drew couldn't seemingly remember what happened before she died, Percy couldn't either. Percy had killed someone important. Demigods were killing people important. Clarisse had attacked him- why him? He wasn't some important figure head-hardly anyone new he existed.

Had what gotten to the other demigods gotten to him first?

_No longer daddy's little soldier…_

_We'll be in touch_

Percy just prayed for his own sake that he'd get answers soon.


	13. Chapter 13

Steve should've guessed that Tony inviting him to dinner was just a front. Tony had phoned him earlier in the door claiming that Thor wanted to 'share a feast with his fellow warriors'. Of course Steve had promised to come, after all, all that waited for him at home was a full sketch book and empty rooms. So he dressed in a nice white shirt and slacks (expecting something fancy) and arrived at Stark Tower a little earlier than planned.

Steve made a mental note not to believe what Tony said so easily. After all, Steve didn't find the man overall enjoyable, but he was bearable. He was the son of Howard Stark, so that had to count for something, right?

As it turns out Tony had apparently _forgotten_ he had to do a presentation for some SHIELD agents. So while Bruce and Tony set themselves up in the massive space age lab, Steve walked the halls with a newly arrived Thor. Thor was actually quiet enjoyable, contrary to Steve's first thoughts. Though large and intimidating he had great sense of humour and shared Steve's deep sense of loyalty.

They had passed Natasha and Clint in the halls. Apparently they were the SHIELD agents assigned to the presentation. Neither looked impressed. Though it was hard to tell with two master assassins. Steve did notice that Natasha seemed a bit snappier then their previous meeting, as if she was worrying about something.

"-and that is how Lady Sif triumphed over her first male opponent-" Thor said proudly, his strangely accented voice lifting with pride for his fellow warrior.

They were just passing the elevator, and Steve turned towards it as the doors slid opened to reveal someone he had become newly acquainted with, Percy Jackson. The man was dressed in riding jeans, a grey shirt and a basic SHIELD jacket. Resting against his hip was his helmet, while a pair of gloves could be seen poking out from within his jeans pocket. It seemed sweat had plastered the man's raven hair to his forehead, and stained the collar of his shirt.

He looked like anyone but a SHIELD agent.

"Agent Jackson," Steve nodded his welcome, "are you here for the presentation?"

"Yeah," the man walked out of the elevator and it seemed Steve wasn't the only one who caught the agents slight wince.

"Are you injured, Perseus?" Thor questioned with furrowed eyebrows.

Steve became thoroughly confused by the name. _Perseus? _Steve knew that could be shortened to Percy, but how on earth did Thor know the agents name? _Maybe Agent Jackson has dealt with Thor in the past,_ Steve thought.

"Nothing major," the agent flashed them an award winning smile, "so, what are you doing here?"

"We're going to feast after Starks presentation," Thor nodded his head, "it would be great if you could join us. We could share battle stories."

"Sorry, Thor," Percy stepped into the hall and tried to sidestep the pair but in the process a little nook near the visor of his helmet caught on the intricate metal of Thor's helmet. It was ripped from his hands, revealing the large, dark growing blood stain soaking through the material of his jeans.

"That looks major," Steve said with raised eyebrows. He hardly knew the man, but Steve had always been one to look after others- or at least look out for them.

"Just popped a couple of stitches in my preliminary," Agent Jackson was obviously trying to remain cool, "it doesn't much."

He bent down to pick up his helmet and Thor's keen ears could make out the thin hiss that escaped from the man's mouth. A man's troubles were his own though. If the wound was grievous, Thor was confident enough that Perseus would seek help if it was needed.

"Thanks for the concern, but I've got to get to the lab," Percy began walking at a rather average speed down the hall.

Steve and Thor followed a moment later. They wanted to know what had drawn SHIELD's attention as well. Inside the lab Natasha and Clint were already waiting, talking quietly among themselves. Tony was looking at something through a microscope while Bruce was tapping away at a tablet.

"Percy," Natasha looked towards the agent, "I take it you passed the preliminaries?"

"Yeah," Percy leant up against the counter with a slightly visible wince.

"You're bleeding," Clint's sharp eyes had instantly been drawn in to the blood, "Stark, you got a medical kit?"

"Dum-E, get Bird Brain the kit," Tony said without looking away from the microscope, trusting his robot to get the requested thing. The one armed robot let out a happy little whirring nose before zooming over to the cupboards, returning with a large medical box.

"It's fine, Clint," Percy pressed the point that he didn't need medical assistance.

"No, it's not," Clint opened the box, "pull the waist band down."

"Really-"

"Do it, Percy," Natasha's voice left no room for arguing.

Percy looked around the room for a moment. Thor was being entertained by the one armed robot who was seemingly trying to show some of its skills, Steve was trying to look like he wasn't eavesdropping, Tony was too engrossed in his work to pay attention. Bruce though was looking up from behind his glasses- - obviously interested.

The son of Poseidon removed his jacket and pulled down his waistband. During his preliminaries he had popped some stitches, but between that, a talk to Fury and being ordered to get to Stark Towers he had no time to look after it. It stung more than ached, and Percy couldn't help but wince whenever he moved his hip awkwardly.

"You've ruined your stitches," Clint said as he examined the wound.

"Who's ready to see a breakthrough in science?" Tony called, oblivious to the agents own problems.

"It's not a break through if someone did it first," Natasha said stoically.

"You go and watch, Agent Barton, we wouldn't want you getting into trouble with Fury," Bruce had worked his way over.

"It's fine, Doc," Percy grunted as Clint pressed against the inflamed area.

"No offence, but I think I have more medical expertise then Agent Barton," Bruce said with a timid smile.

"Okay," Clint straightened up and wandered over to the work desk.

Bruce took up Clint's prior position and examined the wound. He frowned slightly before straightening.

"I'll just sew it back up," Bruce picked some tweezers out of the box.

Percy wasn't happy about his current predicament. He wanted to tell Bruce that he could care for it himself, but Fury's words from not long ago ran through his head. _This isn't a one man show, Jackson. You need to let others at least attempt to help._

"We found out that the people have five tiny Nano bots planted strategically around the body," Bruce said in an attempt to distract Percy as he picked out his stitches, "one in the heart, two under the arm pits, one in the groin and a final one of the brain stem. The one on the brain stem is the one that seems to affect the brains function—it seems to give the person on the other end the ability to control somebody. The other four though-" Bruce threaded a needle skilfully, "- are made of adamantium, one of the-"

"-hardest metals on earth," Percy recited, wanting to show the doctor he did indeed understand, "it came from a meteorite that crashed around the nineties."

"Yes," Bruce began doing neat stitches along Percy's hip, "and because the metal is so strong it can store an extremely potent acid without corroding. When the person is done with, the acid is released into the blood stream."

"How do you know if a person has these Nanos in their body?" Percy questioned as he bit his lip slightly.

"From what we can tell they'd have trace amounts of adamantium in their blood along with a hint of hydrochloric acid," Bruce muttered as he neatly ended the stitches and wiped over the wound with an antibacterial wipe, cleaning away the blood, "you really shouldn't be allowed into the field with that."

"I'll be fine," Percy glanced down at his ruined pants, "I've had worse."

It seemed Tony had finished whatever his demonstration was. Steve had a rather hard set look on his face while his eyes showed disgust, Natasha and Clint both had schooled expressions, while Thor was looking puzzled and shocked at the same time.

"That's horrible," Steve said, "who would do that to people?"

"AIM," Tony pulled away from the work bench, "Advanced Idea Mechanics."

"AIM hasn't been active for year," Natasha crossed her arms over her chest, "not since the Twin Towers."

"What is AIM?" Steve questioned with confusion.

"It started out as a scientific research division in World War II, part of Hydra," Clint recited, "but after you ganked the Red Skull, they went underground. They've popped up occasionally, trying to overthrow all governments by technological means."

"Why these people?" Thor gestured to the pictures of the known AIM suspects that where lined up on a different screen.

"They have a certain skill set," Percy gazed at Thor.

"They are of your kind?" Thor raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Percy grunted out in response.

"You mean SHIELD agents?" Steve asked in concern.

"Agent Jackson was trained at a specialist facility before joining SHIELD," Clint supplied, "AIM probably tracked it down and has been abducting people from there."

There was a slight silence around the room.

"On that happy note, dinner time," Tony rubbed his hands together, "I know this great steak house."

"We have plans," Clint said as he casually pulled out his phone.

"No you don't," Tony corrected, "we're going to have a nice little family bonding sessions-"

"Did Pepper put you up to this?" Natasha questioned, eyebrow quirked in amusement.

"Possibly- but that's beside the point," Tony said, "follow me to Richards Steak Lobby down on 29th. Try and dress fancy. That includes you, Lancelot."

"I have more important things to do," Percy deadpanned

"To bad. I want to know about this training camp of yours. You don't come I hunt you down." Tony walked out of the lab without even glancing back.

Percy, Natasha and Clint escaped the tower quickly.

"You shouldn't have passed the preliminaries," Natasha said with a shake of her head.

"You let Clint fight an alien race when he had a concussion," Percy pointed out, "I'll be fine."

"I'll see you at the steak house then," Natasha opened the door of her car.

"You're going?" Percy asked in surprise.

"Free meat," Clint flashed him a smile, "you say no to that, then something has to be wrong with you."

"You're coming as well, we need to discuss the case," Natasha added, "you bail and Stark won't be the only one hunting you down."

So Percy found himself roped into a dinner with the Avengers. In a sort of haze he made it back to his apartment and managed to get changed before Nico returned from wherever he had been.

"I'm going out for dinner," Percy said as he picked his keys up from the table, "I don't know when I'll be back."

"Can I come? I'm starved," Nico slung his jacket back on over his black shirt.

"It's an important-"

"Me being hungry takes precedent over everything," Nico grabbed Percy's arm, "where to?"

Knowing this was a battle he couldn't win he said, "Richards Steak Lobby on 29th."

Engulfed in the twisted shadows it only took a moment to reach the street. The place looked large and fancy, nothing Percy was used to. Sending his cousin a wry smile he walked up closer and opened the door. He knew as soon as he entered he was being judged and mentally mocked. A white dress shirt and jeans certainly didn't seem like enough for this place. Nico was in a worse predicament, wearing an aviators jacket and ripped jeans.

"Can I help you?" The man at the front counter was staring down his nose at him.

"I'm here with Mr Stark," Percy was used to being looked down on, "if you could tell him _Agent_-" he stressed the word "-Jackson is here, it'd be much appreciated."

The word _Agent _seemed to jar the man a little as he picked up his phone and punched in a single diget.

"Yes, sorry to be of bother, Mr Stark, but we have an Agent Jackson at the front desk," He glanced at Nico, "and he seems to have company."

There was brief silence for a moment.

"Yes, of course Mr Stark,"

The man instantly lead them towards the back of the restaurant. Percy couldn't help but think it would have to be the damn fanciest steak house in the world. With crystal chandeliers, expensive art work and prim and proper looking waiters it looked like something out of a movie.

"Here you are, Agent Jackson," the attendant opened a set of heavy oak doors to reveal a private dining room filled with a single large round table. Many of the seats were already filled by other avengers who seemed to be enjoying various drinks.

"Did I say you could bring a friend?" Tony asked from his section of the table, "I don't recall saying that."

Percy sat down, waving away the attendant who tried to pull his chair out for him and lay a napkin across his legs. Nico scoffed and sat down next to Percy, looking prepare to glare daggers at the billionaire.

"He's family," Percy supplied as he flashed a smile and a wink to Natasha.

"Nico Di Angelo," Nico offered a wave to everyone at the table.

"A pleasure to meet you," Thor boomed from his end of the table.

"I can see why he's the god of thunder," Nico muttered as he rubbed his ears, "what's a good drink around here?"

"Are you even legal?" Steve couldn't help but question.

"I am if you want me to be," Nico asked with a smirk, making Steve do a double take,

"I like him," Tony raised his glass of scotch in Nico's direction, "oi, you, get this kid a glass of scotch."

"Right away," the waiter nodded and scurried away.

There settled a slightly awkward silence around the table. That was until Nico ungracefully leant back in his chair and said without any second thought:

"You're pretty spry for an older fella," the commented was directed towards Steve who looked more than surprised.

"Nico," Percy hissed at his cousin.

"You're the one who tells me to be talkative," Nico deadpanned.

Luckily the waiter came out with a glass of scotch for Nico. Percy ordered his own drink of Vodka and tried not to think about the numerous things he wanted to call his cousin at the moment. His thoughts were slightly distracted though at the sudden heat that ran through his body. It wasn't like a fever heat, nor like one you would get from laying out in the sun, but rather a scorching – almost electric current like flash of heat.

At the same time the three agents phones buzzed. They glanced at each other before pulling them out (they were in sync- creepily so.) Percy squinted hard at the message, taking longer to read it then the others. He could feel their stares boring into him though and once Percy finished the message he knew why.

_We found Adamantium and dilute hydrochloric acid in Agent Jacksons blood work. Get to base now._

Percy raised his gaze to meet that of his friends. Doctor Banners words from previous flashed through his mind. The victims had that in their blood. Was he infected? Was he just like some doll waiting to be turned on? Natasha's gaze was one of badly hidden fear- one that had only been seen when she was in the presence of the Hulk. Clint was rather cool, though his eyes betrayed his emotion of wariness

"We best be going-"

Natasha never got to finish her sentence though. The room suddenly exploded. Filling with debris, yells, dust and plaster. Percy was flung against an expensive looking marble statue, hitting his head so hard that his vision turned black and he knew no more.


	14. Chapter 14

Nico was flung from his chair and sent flying through the air by the strong blast. He hit the wall adjacent to him, his back cracking painfully while his vision swum. He slid down to the floor and coughed as the dust flew into his lungs. Once his violent coughs subsided he pushed himself to his feet, squinting to see through the dust and smoke. In a great whoosh of air though the room seemed to clear. Nico was given a clear view of the famed Avengers.

The Captain was already standing, staring at horror as Bruce Banner seemed to convulse on the floor. Stark was out cold, Natasha suffered a head wound, Clint seemed to be fine, along with a perfectly unharmed Thor. Percy though was lay crumpled against a marble statue, blood pooling underneath him from what Nico guessed would be a head wound.

"Natasha, get everybody out and set up a perimeter-" Steve was cut off as Bruce suddenly grew large and green.

Nico's eyes widened and on instinct he drew his sword. Steve glanced from the Hulk to Nico, but seemed to think the Hulk was more important.

"-Thor with me. Angelo, get those two out of here," Steve ordered. Thor threw his newly arrived hammer and just missed the Hulk who let out a furious roar.

The two larger men began leading the Hulk down the back alley that was hardly big enough to contain him. and Natasha both went their separate was- Natasha to the entrance and Clint through the hole in the wall. Nico flexed his fingers over his sword for a moment before making it smaller and moving over to Percy, gently lifting his cousins head to look at the cut on the back of his head.

"I swear bad luck follows you," Nico muttered to himself as he moved to pick his cousin up into a position that would suit shadow travel. He never got Percy up though as a group of ten people dressed in stealthy black outfits and armed with guns Nico had no chance of naming entered the alley.

"Fantastic," Nico drew his sword again and ran into the shadows, reappearing at the end of the alley.

He easily downed two of the attackers by position various kicks and punches (his sword proved they were mortal). In doing so he quickly checked for any recognisable logo, and seeing that there wasn't the bird logo of SHIELD, Nico had to assume they were the enemy. As the two men he attacked fell to the floor, crying out in pain, the others spun around and levelled their guns at him.

"Now you see me-" he held up his hands, "-now you don't"

He disappeared into the shadows, not to travel, but rather let them wrap around him and make him invisible to the human eye. He picked up on the mans fallen guns and stared at it, trying to figure out how to use it. He managed to fire off three shots before the gun jammed. And of course none of those three shots hit anybody.

"He's there," someone pointed to his position. Nico noticed the blonde hair, blue eyes and recognisable voice. They got to Will Solace as well. The man would be able to see the abnormality in the darkness- after all, he is a son of Apollo.

"No I'm not," Nico shouted as he melted into shadow travel, appearing behind Will with his sword ready. He swiftly drove his knee into the back of the son of Apollo's knee, grunting as he didn't feel any change in Wills demeanour.

"Idiot," Will suddenly drove back, driving Nico into the wall.

One of the other men dressed in black swiftly shot Nico in the neck. The son of Hades stared at the fluffy ended dart in confusion- but when he started to feel drowsy he knew what had happened. Tranquiliser. Gathering his strength he melted into the walls and shadowed travelled, knowing he couldn't let the men get him.

The remaining men walked into the restaurant. Two stood guard while two picked up the fallen SHIELD agent carelessly. Two more knelt next to the fallen billionaire and pulled a shiny metal device from their packs. Setting it over the glowing circle of light they let it click into place before jerking it back cruelly, pulling the Arc Reactor out with it. Instantly the billionaires breathing hitched, the shrapnel in his chest beginning to slowly shift with each pump of his heart.

Then they disappeared into the night. The only sign that they had been there was the dying billionaire.

Natasha rushed back into the room no more then two minutes later. She stared at the spot Percy had once been before glancing at Tony, noticing the large lack of light from the mans chest. Kneeling next to the billionaire she took in his rapid pulse and quick breathing- her heart skipping a beat.

She thanked her lucky stars as Nico travelled back in. He stumbled like a drunk man for a moment, looking rather delirious.

"Do you have a twin sister?" he almost slurred at Natasha.

"Get us to Stark Towers," She ordered as she lifted Tony up the best she could.

"I just ended up in China," Nico mumbled as he sleepily took a hold of Natasha's arm, "but third times the charm, right?"

Natasha was then engulfed in shadows. Later to Clint she would describe it as the most terrifying and exhilarating thing she had done. There had been only darkness around her, and yet she could still feel the whipping of wind and certain smells. They immerged no more then a second later in the penthouse of Stark Towers.

"Jarvis, send up the Arc Reactor," Natasha dumped Tony on a couch, watching out of the corner of her eye as Nico slumped into a seat of his own and didn't move.

"Here, Agent Romanoff," Jarvis lit up a corner of the room were a fresh new Arc Reactor waited, "you must match up the two ends then press firmly until you hear a click."

Natasha did as she was instructed, and only let out a breath after hearing a click. Tony instantly let out a gasp while his eyes opened to reveal bleary brown.

"Tastes like coconut," he muttered as he licked his lips. Sitting up he gazed around, "how did I get here?"

"I'll explain later," Natasha walked over to Nico and slapped his cheek. Twisting his neck to the side she gazed at the tiny pin prick of blood, "he's out. Get him medical attention and get some of his blood. Don't leave."

Natasha went down to the garage and stared at the variety of cars. She instead opted to ride one of Starks motorcycles. Jarvis showed the keys to her and before long she was zooming through heavy New York traffic. She received a lot of angry honks and swear words due to her rapid swerving, but she promptly ignored them.

Arriving at the scene she got off the bike and walked towards Fury, "Starks at the Tower, Nico Di Angelo travelled him there. What's the information on the Hulk?"

"Thor managed to pin him down with that hammer of his on 51st," Fury replied promptly as he ordered agents into the building, "where's Agent Jackson?"

"MIA," Romanoff replied as clearly as she could, "we won't know until Mr Di Angelo awakens."

"You and Barton get back to Stark Towers. I want all of you to stay there until I give orders that say otherwise," Fury said briskly.

This time Clint took control of the bike and they zoomed back to Stark Towers. After parking the bike the garage they pressed the button for the penthouse and rode smoothly up to the top.

"You're bleeding," Clint wiped at the blood on her head with his thumb.

"I'm fine," Natasha responded without even sparing a glance at the blood on her friends hand, "I'm more concerned about finding where Percy is."

"His cousin probably moved him somewhere safe," Clint tried to reassure her as he stepped out of the elevator.

It seemed Steve, Thor and the newly transformed Bruce had made it back before them. Steve had a gel pack pressed against his ribs, Thor was staring moodily at his hammer, and Bruce was blinking blearily. Tony on the other hand was nursing a glass of scotch while he stared down at the still sleeping Nico.

"No adamantium or hydrochloric acid in his blood works. He is full of enough tranqs to take down a small rhino though," Tony commented lightly, "and I think he's drooling."

"We need to find out where Agent Jackson is," Natasha said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"How come he pulled a sword from nowhere?" Tony gestured to Nico, "what is this training camp?"

"Its classified," Clint commented.

"We have a right to know," Steve argued, "you didn't tell us about Phase 2 and look at where that got you."

"You tell us or Thor does," Bruce added in, "he obviously knows Agent Jackson."

Clint looked at Natasha who stared at him for a moment before giving a minute nod. It was better they release as little information as possible rather than having Thor let too much slip.

"The Asgardians aren't the only deities out there," Clint said, folding his arms over his chest, "from the knowledge we've accumulated we've confirmed there are also Greek, Roman and Egyptian."

Everyone else looked at Thor for confirmation: "Aye, it is true. Over the years many others have taken positions in this world."

"Agent Jackson is a Greek," Natasha said.

"Son of Zeus, right?" Bruce piped up, getting odd looks from everyone else, "in Grecian mythology Perseus was the son of Zeus."

Clint couldn't help but let out a stiff bark of laughter, "son of Poseidon, actually."

"Fantastic," Tony muttered as he downed the rest of his scotch, "and what is he?"

"Son of Hades," Natasha said coolly, "they come from a training facility that teaches them how to master archaic weapons."

"That's why SHIELD hired him?" Steve asked confused.

"Perseus has faced many a-great foes over the years," Thor commented lightly, "more than one so young should have to."

"He's a great hero, I get it. Greek tragedies and all that jazz," Tony set his glass down, "how do we find him?"

As if on cue, Nico began to stir. Bruce muttered '_he's not supposed to wake up for another couple hours'_ as he stood and quickly checked the teenagers pulse. Nico seemed to slur something as his eyes blearily opened.

"Pardon?" Bruce asked the teen.

"Get rid of the shadows-" but before the teen could finish he suddenly disappeared _into _Bruce's shadow, only to reappear in the shadows by the bar.

"Nice party trick," Tony commented.

"What's going on?" Nico stared at his hands much like a high person would, "am I high?"

"No," Tony commented with a shrug, "just doped up on tranquilizers."

Nico's brow furrowed as he tried to process the information, "where's Percy?"

"You didn't take him?" Natasha asked with a raise eyebrow.

"No….I didn't…" Nico mumbled as he gazed around the room, concern etched deep into his face, "where is he?"

**This is a Line break**

Percy awoke to a dull throbbing in his head. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to push the pain away and only succeeded minutely. Though his eyes were closed and his breathing even as if in sleep, his body was turning hyper aware. He remembered the explosion. He remembered blacking out. Nothing else.

He could hear the sound of breathing to his right, possibly across the room. He could also make out the faint humming of a familiar _Green Day _song. That narrowed it down a bit. Probably Nico waiting for him to wake up.

"You know, it's kind of considered creepy to watch someone sleep," Percy muttered as he opened his eyes.

As soon as he opened them he new something was wrong. The walls were to white. SHIELD medical bays where usually blue or cream, not white. He got up quicker then expected, and ignoring the nausea that washed through him and insistent throbbing of his head he glared at the person sitting on a bed across from his own.

Dressed in only a black singlet and dark blue jeans- (Percy noticed he too had been stripped down to the basics of his singlet and pants)- the real defining features were short slightly matted black hair, a lightly freckled nose and stunningly blue eyes. Without any earrings, eyeliner or her huntress circlet, Thalia Grace looked surprisingly different.

"It's considered rude to kill someone's brother," Thalia Grace shot back.

**Might not be the best chapter but I had a crap day and this is the only thing that made me feel better.**


	15. Chapter 15

There was a tense and awkward silence between them. Percy sat on the bed, hands clenched into fists while Thalia glared daggers at him. He was surprised he hadn't been burnt into a crisp already. Why had they even been put in the same room? Did whoever took them wanted to watch their own personal _Hunger Games_?

Percy did the only thing he could. He began investigating the room. He checked the bolts on the bed, the mattress for springs, he even checked the sound echo on the door. All the while Thalia's stare bore hard into his back and Percy mistook it first for pure hatred, but then he remembered he was wearing a singlet.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer," he growled as he looked away from his cousin and pressed his ear against the door.

"Who did that to you? I'd like to thank them," Thalia shot back sarcastically.

"Your father," Percy retorted sharply as he turned around and moved back to the bed. He ran a hand across the wound on the back of his head. It was scabbed over already but the blood still matted his hair and stained his back. His hip was throbbing, but no longer burned, "how'd they grab you?"

Thalia was moodily silent and Percy glared at her. If Thalia wanted to be that way, fine. Percy sat down on the bed and drew his legs up so he was sitting in a lotus position and began going through the breathing exercises Dr Banner had taught him. First he needed to calm down, then figure out how to get out here. From his inspection he found no cameras—but seeing as this was most likely an AIM base they could be anywhere.

The guards would most likely have guns. Advanced ones at that- maybe stun or laser. They'd be highly trained and no doubt the guard shifts would be tight. If he found a reliable water source he might be able to flood the place. He was honestly very surprised that Thalia hadn't already shocked herself out. They must have something in place to keep her in line.

As it turned out Thalia had less patience then Percy. The son of Poseidon had expected the silence go on for another half an hour at least. He was fine with that. He had been silent for over two hours before (lesson of the story, do not let yourself be convinced by Clint that air vents are good places for stake outs).

"You don't be surprised to see me," Thalia commented no more than five minutes later.

"SHIELD was looking for you," Percy unfolded his legs and rested his feet flat against the ground.

"A shield was looking for me?" Thalia asked in confusion, "you either hit your head harder than I thought, or you've gotten stupider."

Percy glared at the fifteen year old (she was technically older then Percy) and responded, "SHIELD stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"And I care why?" Thalia seemed to be processing the name.

"We take care of the abnormal," Percy muttered, remembering Fury's words, _you're different, I like different. _"And you're classed as abnormal. Annabeth and Chiron came to us, asking we look into the Demigod disappearances."

"You're a spy?" that was all she took from that conversation.

"I prefer agent," Percy sent her a smile but suddenly tensed at the sound of a thick lock sliding out of something.

He was instantly on his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Thalia doing the same. Percy took up a position on the side of the door and watched as it opened. As expected what entered the room first was a gun. In one swift move he grabbed the barrel on the gun, forced it upwards then used the man's arms as support as he swung under the open legs, ending up on the other end of a white hallway.

He stood up quickly and kicked the man solidly in the groin before landing two solid punches in the kidneys. The man fell to the floor in pain, dropping his gun.

"You just going to stand there?" Percy shot at Thalia as he pulled the radio off the man's belt and grabbed a more suitable pistol, he then chucked Thalia the larger gun the man had been using initially, "watch my six. Shoot to injure- an injured man takes out three more with him."

"Where did you learn all of this?" Thalia questioned as she stepped over the groaning man.

"I'm an Agent, remember?" Percy shot her an award winning smile before clicking the safety off the gun. The commandeered radio crackled.

"_Break in section one_," broke through the radio while up above a series of loud beeps broke the silence in the hall.

"How do you work this?" Thalia was looking at the gun in fury.

"Jesus Christ," Percy handed her the pistol, taking the larger gun. He looked it over and remembered it from his basic SHIELD training. Sliding the safety off he glared at Thalia, "point and shoot-"

The sound of footsteps broke through the hall. Perhaps about ten, maybe thirteen people. Percy braced the gun against his shoulder and moved into the sheltered doorway. The first man came through and Percy fired off three shots. He saw one make impact on the man's black attire, but he didn't even flinch. Thalia was firing as well- her accuracy much better (the kickback of the gun was getting to her thought) and like him, his bullets made no impact.

"Blanks," Percy sword furiously.

He noticed none of the men had guns. This had to be a test of some sort. He advanced forward, his walk so confident Thalia thought for a moment he was walking down a Manhattan street. The hunter of Artemis was shocked for a moment as she watched Percy down three people by simply sweeping low and aiming for weak spots such as the knees and groin.

Percy jumped up high and vaulted off someone's shoulders, using the momentum to kick someone so hard in the throat his neck let out a resounding _crack_. He landed on the floor with only a minimal wince. Thalia was handling a guard in hand to hand combat a little further down the hall, while Percy was surrounded by around seven guards.

"I see you've made it nice and fair," Percy muttered as he tried to figure out a plan of attack.

One man advanced forward and then the fight began. He knew from the instant he punched the first man that this would be a losing battle. He'd taken down more before, but back then he hadn't been injured. His head was beginning to pound painfully. He was distracted by a rather tough opponent when someone seemed to grind their fingers into his hip. He let out a strangled yell of pain and whipped around, knocking the man out with a simple punch. Three men then forced him up against the wall where his head cracked painfully- making his vision swim.

Two men pinned his arms to the wall while another kept an elbow pressed firmly against his ribs. Percy took deep breaths to stop himself from throwing up. Thalia was pinned to the wall opposite him- but with only two guards.

"I must say, Perseus," a voice floated down the hall way, "you have improved."

Percy tried to see the man but the people restraining him blocked his view.

"What is that, three dead?" he heard the man say, followed by the sound of a boot hitting flesh, "and these where my best men."

"Who are you?" Percy spat, holding back waves of nausea.

As if on cue the guard pressing his chest against the wall moved aside, giving Percy a view of a rather average man. He didn't have any odd scars, any birthmarks, he didn't even seem to have freckles. With black hair and bright brown eyes, Percy placed him around late thirties.

"I'm hurt," the man said as he inspected the pair of trapped Demigods, "my first experiment doesn't remember me."

"Pardon?" Percy spat.

"I wouldn't be surprised though, those Nanos fried out before they even had a chance to work properly," the man shrugged as if to say _what can you do_? "but we have you back and we can pick up from where we left off."

"You know him?" Thalia spat at Percy.

"I haven't seen this weirdo before in my life," Percy spat as he searched desperately for the feel of water, "Thalia, remember that year at camp when Annabeth went missing, the capture the flag game?"

"What are you going on about?" Thalia fumed.

The unknown man looked between the pair with raised eyebrows, "yes, Perseus, what do you mean?"

"Remember, Thalia? When I took the flag? And you got mad? I could use a bit of that right now," Percy pressed the point.

Thalia's mouth formed a little _o _before she shook her head.

"You can at least tell us your name," Percy's mind tried to figure out why Thalia couldn't call any lightening.

"Jeff," the man flashed him a smile, and Percy frowned deeply, "what, where you expecting a super scary villain name?"

"Yes," Percy said honestly before saying, "so, Jeff, what do you want?"

"I'm the one asking the questions," Jeff waved his finger in Percy's face, "but what do I want? I want to see all the corrupt governments gone, me in power and a fairer world. Not much."

"Could you be any more unoriginal?" Percy snorted.

"I have to say I'm the most original AIM leader so far," Jeff chuckled, "after all, I think I've created a lot of drama."

"What do you mean?" Percy was beginning to get to the end of his fuse.

"Well, first I killed your parents-" Percy stopped cold, "-and as expected that kind of made you depressed. I must admit the whole girlfriend going for the brother thing wasn't part of my plan but it seemed to work perfectly. I then activated your Nanos and made you kill your brother and cousin. Caused quite a stir, I hear."

Percy tried to get out of the grip of his restraining guards, but they pushed against the wall, making him hit his head again. He snarled at Jeff who flashed him a smile.

"You failed though. Your powers actually caused the Nanos to fry out," Jeff shrugged again, "but now you work for SHIELD, and I have an unlimited source of information. And let's not forget the daughter of the big guy himself,"

Jeff turned to Thalia and smiled at her. Thalia glared back with all of her might.

"I have to say I have all the bargaining chips," he smiled at them, "now, take Ms Grace-" Thalia swore at him furiously in ancient Greek "-back to her room. Perseus and I have some things to talk about."

The guards dragged Percy down a myriad of halls. He tried to remember all of them, but his head was throbbing and his vision swam a bit. All that was running through his mind was_, I killed them….no, he killed them. I did it though_. He didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse. He himself hadn't killed Tyler and Jason, and yet it had been by his hands. What did this mean?

Before he had time to contemplate it, he was forced into a cold metal chair and he hands were locked behind him by cold tight hand cuffs.

"So, AIM?" Percy tried to quell his panic. The room was basic. White, just filled with the single chair he was sitting in, "I thought you were buried."

"Oh, no, we always come back," Jeff smiled at him as he leaned against the wall, "it's a family business."

"Your father must be so proud," Percy snapped sarcastically.

"He's dad," Jeff shrugged again, "I'm guessing your father wasn't proud of you after you killed those campers?"

"I didn't do it," Percy repeated the words he had used many times before, "and now I know that for certain."

"Ah, incorrect," the leader of AIM made a buzzing sound- like one off the game show, "the blood is still on your hands. But, we're not here to talk about you per say, we're here to talk about SHIELD."

"What about it?" Percy tested the handcuff strength. He would be able to take the two guards and Jeff (honestly, the man had the most unoriginal name in the world).

"A lot of things, actually," Jeff rubbed his knuckles, "SHIELD is my only main opponent. And of course those petty Avengers, but I take out them I take out SHIELD."

"The Avengers beat an army. They can beat you easily," Percy huffed, "besides, Tony Stark is a better inventor then the whole of AIM."

Percy saw the punch coming, but there was little he could do to avoid it. He clenched his stomach muscles, but that only absorbed some of the blow. Percy was left winded. The man was strong- really strong. His thin frame certainly didn't do him justice.

"Anthony Stark is a playboy who craves attention," Jeff stepped back and brushed some black hair out of his eyes, "the man lets his brain go to waste. Besides, we already know he weakness."

"And what is that?" Percy questioned. He was using an age old SHIELD technique of getting information out of his interrogator.

"His heart," Jeff smirked, "but yet again, off track. Firsts things first, tell me who has been assigned to this case."

"Who says there's even a case?" Percy smirked up at him, "feeling a little self-important, are we?"

"We've been watching you, Perseus. I know there's a case. Now tell me who your partners are," Jeff rubbed his knuckles again, obviously a warning he was going to punch Percy again.

"Keep fishing," Percy said sarcastically. That earned him a hard punch to the sternum. The breath whooshed out of him in a great gust.

"You're a high clearance," Jeff stepped back, "Level Ten, correct?"

Level Eleven was right below Level Twelve- the highest ranking agent you could get. Level Eleven cases rarely came up though, so Percy usually stayed around Level Seven. Very few agents ever reached Level Ten.

"Very few agents make it that high," Jeff continued, "usually it's the ones trained by Agent Coulson."

"What, do you expect me just to spill all of SHIELDs secrets?" Percy let out a dry laugh.

"No," Jeff said, "but we have time. We have ways to make a man break."

"Torture?" Percy snorted, "we've been trained for that."

"We do things a little differently here at AIM," Jeff said with a rather creepy smile as he advanced to the door, "if you need anything, please, hesitate to ask."

And that was it. The metal door closed behind Jeff and Percy heard a bolt slide into place. Percy gazed around the room. Bland whiteness. So white it was almost blinding. The chair was cold and stiff. He couldn't move his arms. His legs were free but that proved useless. His head was leaking blood and his hip was getting uncomfortably warm and sticky.

"_If you find yourself in isolation the best thing you can do it hum_," Coulson had told him long ago, _"humming will keep your mind busy. If that doesn't work for you, start translating things. Songs, poems, whatever you want, just start translating it into a different language. Do whatever it takes to keep your mind busy. I personally list off the states of America. Don't talk, and don't show any weakness."_

So Percy began to hum. He hummed the whole _Green Day _album, then some _Black Keys_, and but that didn't last him long. His over active mind was beginning to get tired of the constant humming. So he began translating things into Ancient Greek. He went through his whole vocabulary of swear words and insults.

Yet again though he became distracted. He kept on thinking _that bastard killed my parents_. Had that man really set up the robbery? Was he really that precise? Percy had to admit the man did a good job making it look like Percy did everything out of his own free will.

_Come on Percy, we can get through this_, he said to himself as he took a deep breath and started to hum some more songs.

**-This is a line break-**

Fury was not at all happy about his lead Agent going missing. _Find him, get him back here, and sort this whole god damn mess out_, still rang in Clint's ears.

Everyone was holed up at Stark Towers. They were allowed to leave, but they had things to sort out. Natasha had ordered Tony to investigate the bomb material and video tapes that SHIELD had gotten from the restaurant, Bruce was ordered to do a facial recognition scan, and the rest just sat around awkwardly.

The newly lucid Nico was nursing a can of coke as he watched the TV. He wanted to find Percy as bad as the rest, but there wasn't much he could do. He stared at the screen blankly, hardly registering the fact that Captain America was sitting not far away from him, along with the Norse god of Thunder.

"They have show's about people who are sixteen and pregnant?" Steve asked in confusion as he watched the advert.

"Welcome to the 21st century," Nico muttered as he set his can down, "not everything you expected, huh?"

"Honestly, no," Steve said.

"Same here," Nico smiled grimly as he grabbed the remote.

"What do you mean, Hadeson?" Thor questioned, his voice booming.

"You're not the only one out of your time, Captain-" Nico stopped suddenly as an advertisement for a fortune seer, "-I'm an idiot."

Nico got up and vaulted over the lounge.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked with wide eyes.

"Story for another time," Nico pressed the button for the elevator, "Jarvis, call Annabeth Chase."

"Calling," Jarvis responded.

Inside the elevator, the phone ringed for a moment before answering.

"_Annabeth Chase speaking_," Annabeth said.

"It's Nico. Where does Rachel live?" Nico tapped his foot impatiently.

"_In the upper east, why?" _Annabeth questioned.

"I need to see her, obviously," Nico snapped, "I'll swing down camp, be there in a couple minutes, don't be late."

He had Jarvis end the call. He was walking into the lobby just as Natasha and Clint entered.

"Oi, I need a lift to England," Clint said as he spotted Nico.

"I'm not a taxi," Nico snapped, "I need to see someone. She might be able to tell us where Percy is."

"You go with Clint," Natasha said, "I'll handle this person."

Nico growled under is breath for a moment, "you know where camp is? Go there and Annabeth will be waiting. She'll take you to the person."

Natasha nodded and headed outside. Driving through the traffic she reached the Camp and saw indeed Annabeth was waiting at the base of the hill. Natasha opened the other door and said;

"Nico had things to take care of," Natasha supplied as she watched the blonde slide into the car. She wore jeans and an orange T-shirt, obviously feeling no need to dress up.

"Okay," Annabeth said casually before telling Natasha the address.

"She's the oracle," Annabeth explained, "she receives prophecies from Apollo. I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner. She'll know where Thalia is."

"And Percy," Natasha added carelessly, feeling no form of respect or even a scrap of good feelings towards the blonde.

"Yes, of course," Annabeth said as an afterthought.

A silence filled the car as they idled in traffic. Natasha of course was used to the silence. It seemed Annabeth was not.

"So, how did Percy get taken?" She questioned.

"Explosian at a restaurant," Natasha revved the engine and zoomed towards the upper east.

"Are you two…" she made a little hand gesture.

"SHIELD agents as high ranked as us aren't allowed to have interoffice relationships," Natasha said blandly.

Natasha pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car without even sparing the blonde a glance. To her, Annabeth Chase was just a girl who didn't know what she wanted- nor how to hold onto it once she had it. She didn't value what she had, and Natasha hated people like that.

The doorman opened the door for them and they headed up to the penthouse. Rachel Elizabeth Dare would have to be rich. Natasha had an inkling she was related to the CEO of _Dare Enterprises. _It would make sense of course. The elevator opened for them, revealing a vast room, covered in paintings and filled with artists tools.

"You're late," a voice commented from a different room.

A person with vibrant red hair and bright green eyes entered. She wore an overly large shirt marked with paint and ripped shorts. Natasha can't say this was what she had expected the Oracle to look like- because she honestly had no idea.

"Nico had to go somewhere," Annabeth said with a small smile, "this is Agent Romanoff. Agent Romanoff, Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

The two red heads shook hands.

"I just made coffee," Rachel said, "I'll go get it."

Natasha took the spare moment to look at the paintings. Instantly ones on the left wall caught her eye, and she read the plague at the base of the set of paintings.

_Boy Turned Spy_

The first painting depicted splashing water and smiling faces. It seemed happy. It changed in the second painting- that one showed snow dusted graves and a tall figure standing at the base. The third showed a great grand room filled with large tall thrones of all different kinds, and a little shadow in the centre. The next made Natasha stop cold. It showed an empty clearing, filled with snow and two figures. One was kneeling on the ground as if defeated, and the other (the main focus of the painting) stood with his hands in the pocket of his jacket, face looking troubled.

"How do you know what happened their?" Natasha asked as she heard Rachel return to the room.

"I've been seeing him a lot," Rachel handed a cup to Annabeth, "I've had loads of offers on that set, but its still not complete."

"Rachel paints the things she sees," Annabeth explained as she looked at the painting, a hint of disdain in her eyes.

"And that one's about Agent Jackson?" Natasha asked as she looked at the rest. Two of them showed some of the missions she had been on with Percy, another showed him yet again at the graves (his parents, no doubt) and finally another showed him with a shadowy figure (Natasha presumed Nico).

"_Boy Turned Spy_," Rachel nodded as she sipped on her coffee, "since he left I've just being so many images of him."

"Have you seen anything lately?" Natasha questioned, "We need all the information we can get."

"I started this last week," Rachel ripped a tarp off a canvas, "he's in trouble."

This one was so bone chillingly life like Natasha felt something grip her heart. The room was obviously white, and in the centre rested a single silver chair. Blood pooled around the chair- not a lot, but enough for concern. Percy sat in the chair, slumped slightly, but eyes raised up, showing a desperate green.

"Where is he?" Natasha questioned, "did you see that?"

"Somewhere run down…." Rachel pulled a pen out of her hair and grabbed a scrap of paper. She sketched out a vague building that almost looked like a rundown hospital, "I wish I could be of more help."

"This is fine," Natasha said honestly, "SHIELD has a way of taking little things and making them huge."

"I've noticed," Rachel Elizabeth Dare sent her a smile, but then it faded slightly, "he's still in New York, state."

"That narrows it down," Natasha nodded and glanced down as her phone rang. Saying a quick _excuse me _she answered it and headed away from the pair.

"_Dead end," _Clint said on the other end of the line.

"I've got a lead," Natasha replied as she looked at the rough sketch, "an abandoned building somewhere in New York State."

"_I'll get Stark working on it now_," Clint said, _"anything else?"_

"No," Natasha glanced back at the pair, "I'll meet you back at the tower."

"_Tasha," _Clint said, _"we'll find him"_

"I know."


	16. Chapter 16

"We're looking for an abandoned building," Natasha said as she stalked into Stark's lab, "possibly a hospital. It's in New York State and is most likely still connected to the grid, maybe self-sustaining. It would've been brought out by a private investor about ten years ago."

"You got all that from a drawing?" Nico questioned as he took up a seat.

"I'm trained to observe, not just _see," _Natasha explained as she commandeered one of Starks computers.

"All right then, Sherlock Holmes," Stark rolled his eyes as he typed in the search parameters. He then squinted up at the agent, "you seemed worried. Are you worried? Afraid someone might get Agent Jackson's soul before you?"

"Agent Jackson is one of the highest ranking agents that SHIELD has to offer," Clint stepped up to Natasha's defence, "if he breaks, we're all in trouble."

"You trusted Percy with national secrets?" Nico snorted loudly as he chortled with laughter, "he couldn't even stop himself from telling me what he got me for Christmas."

"He's been trained to withstand nearly all types of torture known to man," Clint supplied as he looked over Natasha's shoulder at the large amount of images.

"They better not be torturing him," Nico flared, making the shadows flare with him in an amazing show of power.

Tony snorted, "I wouldn't put it below AIM. They worked with Hydra and the Nazi's. If there's anything they know how to do right, its torture."

"Tony," Bruce said in a warning, but the ever chatty Tony kept going.

"Everybody talks eventually. 'Course I never used to believe that. But it's true, everyone does eventually-"

"Shut up before I make you," Nico snapped at Tony.

"He's only been gone…what, twelve hours?" Tony looked at his watch, not at all deterred, "with the head injury he most likely sustained, that leaves four hours for recovery most likely. If we get him within the next twelve hours we should be fine. The first twenty four hours are the worst,"

"You know what?" Nico pursed his lips, "you really need to learn when to shut up."

"Just stating the facts," Tony shrugged and turned back to the computer.

"Yeah? Well those facts apply to the only family I have left. It'd be nice if you sounded at least a bit of sympathy," Nico snapped as he gave Tony a very convincing death glare.

"You're right. Maybe I should just tell you that he's going to be fine and that he's currently at a tea party, will that make you feel better?" Tony snapped back sarcastically.

"Drop it, Stark," Natasha ordered.

"Why should I? He's the one who came looking for a pissing contest," Tony gesture at the shorter, younger male, "I don't even have to be helping."

"But you're doing it because they stole that little flashlight, right?" Nico gestured at Tony's chest, "you only fight for yourself. I've seen the articles. Every single fight you've gotten involved in has just been because someone hurt that Jupiter sized ego of yours."

"What about you? From what I can tell you don't even exist. You pop out of the blue and just because you're the big and mighty son of Hades we should just let you march all over us?" Tony glared back, feeling the lack of sleep and personal anger well up in him.

"Both of you, stop it," Natasha ordered as she stepped between the bickering pair, "you're both tired, and angry. Fighting won't do Percy any good."

"Like hades he cares about Percy," Nico said with a rage filled voice.

"Stop it," Natasha glared at him.

Nico gave Tony one final glare before spinning on his heel and walking straight into the shadows by the elevator. He appeared on the rooftop of the building, silently fuming. Running a hand through his hair he let out a frustrated sigh. His cousin was possibly being tortured and the billionaire was cracking jokes and spilling facts. Didn't the man have a single humane bone in his body? Sure, he appreciated the help the billionaire offered and realised things would be moving a lot quicker with him but the man was just so…

Maybe going nearly a day and a half without sleep, shadow travelling constantly, being drugged and hardly eating had played with his emotions a bit but that man still had no right to talk about his cousin like his was a liable piece of hardware that didn't feel any pain.

He turned at the sound of someone stepping on gravel. The face of Steve Rogers was lit up by the city lights. In his hands he held a flash light, pencil case and sketch book.

"Oh, sorry, I can leave if you'd prefer," the Captain jerked a thumb back towards the elevator.

"Its fine," Nico shrugged as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his aviators' jacket, "free country, right?"

Steve chuckled at the joke, "yeah," the super soldier rested against the railing next to the teenager, "what brings you up here?"

"Needed some air," Nico said through gritted teeth, "Stark was getting on my nerves."

"He has a habit of doing that," Steve grinned in the darkness and stared down at his sketch pad.

A silence hung between them before Steve decided to ask the question that had been bugging him, "what did you mean when you said I'm not the only one out of my time?"

Nico sighed to himself, "I don't like to talk about it," he huffed, regretting mentioning it to the super soldier.

"I understand," Steve nodded, "It would just be nice to know I'm not the only one."

"Well I wasn't frozen in a block of ice," Nico said after a moment's hesitation, "but I suppose we have some things in common. I'm from the forties. Not that I remember any of it."

"What do you mean?"

Nico felt a pang of pity. His story was a seldom told personal one, but he couldn't keep a man hanging.

"After my mother died, my father put my sister and I into a hotel- The Lotus Casino in Las Vegas. It slows down time. You think you're in there for an hour, it's been a day. I thought I was in there for a couple of weeks, tops, turns out it was about seventy years," Nico gave a heavy sigh.

"Wow," Steve breathed, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Nico gazed across the skyline, "I can't remember much of my childhood. My father had my memories wiped."

"What about your sister?" Steve asked.

The teenager bowed his head sadly, "she died when I was ten."

"So you're alone?" Steve asked, trying not to press it.

"I have Percy," Nico gave a small frown, "honestly, he is all I have."

"The love of my life is nearly a hundred years old," Steve couldn't help but say.

"That must be tough," was the best Nico could come up with.

"I'd say you can't imagine but that doesn't seem appropriate," Steve chuckled lightly, "we'll find Agent Jackson."

"I know we will," Nico sighed heavily, "I just hope it's soon."

**-This is a Line Break-**

Isolation was….boring. He had no idea how long he had been in the god damned white room but he knew three things for certain; first, he needed to go to the bathroom badly, two- he absolutely hated the colour white, and three- when he got lose he was going to have to get a whole new IPod playlist.

Judging from the caking of the blood on his jeans and the floor it had been far more than a couple of hours. His body clock had been completely thrown off by the blaring white. He didn't know if it was day or night. His stomach craved for food, his bladder was about to burst and his mouth was so dry it was like he was chewing cotton balls.

At the moment he was just doing the breathing exercises. From the outside he looked rather calm. His eyes were trained on the top left corner of the room, his breathing was even, and he seemed completely at ease. Inside though his heart was racing. He needed to move. He needed _to do something_. At least on stakeouts he had been able to shift and get more blood flow. He hadn't moved in so long his butt was numb.

He knew time was passing. In reality he had been in the white room for a total of six hours. A group of rather bored guards watched on security cameras, waiting for a break in the agents position. At the eight hour mark they would move in for questioning, if there was not any information given then they would move onto phase two and so on.

Two hours passed in a rather slow and boring way. Percy had been mentally remembering parts of SHIELDs training manual. It wasn't interesting, but it helped him at least keep some sense of sanity. Keeping an ADHD person chained up certainly was an effective way to get someone to spill national secrets.

The SHIELD agent almost felt like crying out in joy at the sound of the door opening. Instead, he put a cocksure smile onto his face at stare at Jeff.

"Have fun?" Jeff questioned as he yet again began to rub his knuckles.

"Not really. You should provide guests with better entertainment," Percy quipped as he sifted his bound wrists to keep the circulation moving.

"I'll get onto that," Jeff flashed him a smile, "feel like talking?"

"To you, no," Percy shrugged, "maybe bring someone more interesting in, I might consider it."

"I haven't even gotten started yet," Jeff smirked at him before punching him on the jaw. Percy's head snapped to the side and his vision swam for a moment. Warm blood filled his mouth and he spat it out with a smirk.

"Have you started now? I couldn't tell," Percy looked up at Jeff with sparkling eyes.

"We're just passing the time for the pre-Nanos to do the job," Jeff spread his arms wide, "every single person whose been inserted with Nanos had to be broken first. See, that's why our first attempt with you didn't work. You were to smart, too… fiery. So we started breaking them. Some break easy, like that Drew Tanaka. Two hours in here and she was done- of course we kept her in for a little longer."

"Pre-Nanos?" Percy questioned, words slightly slurred.

"They thin the blood and loosen the tissue for insertion, also sort of fry out that little demigod power part of your brain. Temporarily, of course." Jeff put his arms down by his side, "so, you can either decide to co-operate now, or we move onto phase two."

"I can bet SHIELD's phase two is more impressive than yours," Percy gave a brave smirk.

"Start phase two," Jeff said carelessly as he walked out, door slamming shut behind him.

Percy wondered if phase two was just another round of isolation. If it was he'd probably end up wetting himself due to his full bladder. His thoughts stopped cold when he heard a soft hiss fill the room, like someone was spraying something. He whipped his head around and saw a white mist coming out of….well, seemingly nowhere. He took a deep breath of pure air before holding it tightly.

He felt the mist touch his open skin and he shuddered slightly. It felt cold and clammy. Percy had gotten very good at holding his breath over the years (three minutes was his best), but when the time came his mouth opened against his will and he breathed in. Instantly he could feel the gas crawl down his throat and settle in his lungs. He couldn't help but cough- it just felt so heavy. At first nothing happened. Maybe his head became a bit light, but he had been expecting that.

But then he came.

With shining blonde hair, shining gold eyes and a mischievous face that was marred by scars, he looked like he did the day he died.

"Percy, Percy, Percy," Kronos cooed, "what have you gotten yourself into?"

"You're not real," Percy said with absolute certainty. The gas was probably a hallucinogenic.

"Oh, I'm very real," Kronos advanced across the room and pulled Percy's chin up, forcing him to look into those hauntingly golden eyes.

Okay, so maybe it was a very good hallucinogenic. Just the touch felt so real…it was creepy. He knew Kronos was in the pit and yet Percy would've sworn that it really was the Lord of Time gripping his chin. For a moment Kronos' eyes flickered blue- - a blue that belonged to Luke.

"Help me," Luke's voice cracked as if in pain.

Percy closed his eyes. There had been nothing in the training about a hallucinogenic. He supposed the best he could do was close his eyes and wait until it was over. The grip on his chin disappeared and he let his head droop a little bit. He jerked up again though as he felt a soft touch caress his face.

"You've become so grown up," his mother said as she gently ran her fingers through his hair like she used to do when he was younger. Oh gods, she looked so real. Her hair was still a long salt and pepper black, her eyes were still a glorious blue, and her touch was as comforting as ever.

Part of Percy wished for it to be true, for his mother to really be here.

"My baby boy's now a spy," she touched the bruise that was forming on his jaw and Percy winced as it stung, "going out and saving the world. I always knew you were destined for great things."

"You're not real," Percy muttered under his breath. The stinging of her touch on her cheek felt real. She smelt real. She looked real. And yet she wasn't real. As much as he wished for it, he knew she wasn't real, _she couldn't be real._

"I remember when you convinced me to stand up to Gabe. That's when I knew you weren't my little boy anymore," she said gently as she rested a hand on his shoulder.

Percy closed his eyes yet again. When he opened them his mother was gone. He took a deep steady breath before staring up at the ceiling in pure desperation.

**-This is a Line Break-**

Down the hall Thalia was fairing far better. Well, her mental state was more stable. Her emotions though ran wild. Percy hadn't killed Jason and Tyler….well, he had….but not by free will. Thalia felt so many emotions she felt like she was going to burst. Regret, relief, hatred, anger, sadness…..all of them coursed through her. Strongest of all was guilt.

For the past five years she had hated on Percy. Blamed him for her problems. Blamed him for Jason's death. But he hadn't killed them. And now she didn't know what to do. Percy just wouldn't forgive and forget, and Thalia still felt like Jason's death was still partly Percy's fault. Maybe, _just maybe_ if Percy had been stronger he might have been able to fight off those Nanos. Then maybe Jason would be alive. Maybe her baby brother would still be smiling and laughing like he used to.

With the sudden proof of Percy's innocence, things started to click into place. The way he had disappeared for a day after his parents funeral. The way he couldn't remember killing them and yet pleaded his innocence…... Oh gods. Thalia just felt horrible.

How horrible had they been to him? Thalia had read the raised letters on that scar (who was she kidding? It was a brand) _traitor, murderer. _Percy had been cast out. Thalia hadn't heard anything from him for a long time, but she hadn't cared at the time. Was he even allowed to go near camp?

Then there was the simple fact he was a spy. Gods be damned spy. For a branch of the government she had never heard about before. Though injured he had killed three guards and downed another two. The moves he had used made him look like a cobra. Those moves had to come from extensive training. Even she couldn't pull something like that off. He had killed three men without any weapons, just his fists and his fury.

It was frightening.

Percy hadn't even seemed to have blinked though. Had he really become heartless? Had they turned him into some cold spy? No. He still joked like Percy. He was a lot more patient, but he still acted like Percy.

_Forgive him_, one part of her mind cried, _he didn't mean to kill Jason._

_Don't, _another part said, _he's just as heartless as before._

Part of her longed to hold onto the anger she had been harbouring for all these years. She had grown around that anger. She just couldn't let it go. It fuelled her now. Her first fuel had been her anger at her mother, then her anger at Luke, and now her anger rested with Percy. She wouldn't be able to fight without anger.

_Don't think about that now. You have to get out of here. _She thought to herself. If she could get her hands on a gun she might be able to battle her way out. If it weren't for that stupid 'Pre-Nano' in her blood that fried out her powers she would've escaped long ago. Apparently her 'two week phase' was nearly over. She guessed that meant that she would be inserted with proper Nanos soon. The hall outside seemed badly guarded. Perhaps one or two on patrol.

She didn't get to think any further as the door was unlocked. Thinking quickly she tried to remember the move Percy had used. She grabbed the gun and forced it upwards, then in a slightly different move, used it to vault around the man. She kicked upwards and forced him into the cell, jerking the gun out of his hands in the process.

Slamming the door shut she began running down the hall and around the corner. The halls seemed to be the same blaring white. She had no idea where she was going. She met a round of three guards a couple minutes into her journey, and after pressing so hard and fast on the trigger of her gun she nearly jammed it, she got all three down. One hit in the head, one the knee and the other shot through the wrist.

She bent down and picked up one of the key cards. It didn't take her long to reach an imposing metal door. Swiping the key card in front it granted her access. This time a blue hall greeted her. It looked like something from a hospital. She stopped her inspection and raced down the halls again, searching wildly for an exit.

"You really think we'd let you go that easily?"

Thalia turned around and raised the gun. She stood in the middle of a hall, the only other doorway was one leading into an abandoned room with one single window. She had no idea how high she was, and she really didn't want to find out. Jeff stood at the end of the hall, an armada of ten guards behind him. Thalia didn't have to look at the other end of the hall to know more guards would be blocking that way.

"If I shoot you I could just end it all," Thalia took aim and rested her finger on the trigger.

"But you won't find Percy, will you? Or the other demigods I've got locked up nice and tight in here," the black haired man smirked, "but that guilt won't affect you at all, will it?"

"What do you mean?" Thalia spat as she tightened her grip on the gun.

"You ran away from home. Kicked your cousin out from the only home he had left. Abandoned young Ms Chase to become a huntress. Got Bianca Di Angelo killed-" Jeff began to list off.

"How do you know all of this?" Thalia was carefully watching the guards that advanced towards her from behind, "you're not a demigod."

"No, I'm not," the man's brown eyes twinkled, "but even the gods can't keep their secrets. Now put the gun down, or with a simple order I kill Agent Jackson."

"Kill him," Thalia put on her bravest face, "he killed my brother."

"We both know you don't believe that anymore," Jeff pouted at her.

"You don't know me," Thalia made a rash move. Firing off a single shot she used the distraction to rush into the room opposite and jump out the window.

The glass cut her skin, but she was more concerned with getting herself into a brace ready position. The drop was two stories. She landed mostly on her shoulder, managing to get into a roll at the last second. Her shoulder _popped_ out of place and made her arm hand loosely at her side. Swearing at the pain she glanced up at the window where guards were beginning to assemble before running across the open field.

She ran for her life. Bullets riddled the grass by her feet and she swore some more as she ran for the tree line. When she did reach the safety of the trees she didn't even stop. The moon wasn't out and she guessed it was around midday. Her eyes stung from the sunlight, but she couldn't stop. Thalia couldn't hear anybody following her, and only after ten minutes of running did she stop.

Leaning against a tree she gritted her teeth at the pain flaring from her shoulder. She couldn't put it back in, and she had nothing to sling it with. Breathing heavily she bent in on herself. First she had to find a road. Then she had to get someone who would be willing to take her to the nearest town, and then she had to find Annabeth.

Finding a main road was hard. It took her half an hour of endless wandering (her hunter skills weren't doing any good) before she finally found one. She stood on the edge with her thumb stuck out, waiting for a car or truck to stop. It was only two hours later that someone did.

"Where do you need to get to?" it was an elderly man and his wife.

"New York," she said without hesitation. She must've looked horrible. Dislocated shoulder, ragged clothes, no doubt her hair was a mess.

"We're just heading there," the elderly women beamed at her, "come on in. You look like death warmed up. Whatever happened to you?"

Thalia got into the back of the car hesitantly and replied, "I got separated from some friends was hiking. I thought it'd be best to head to home and contact them from there. I've been out there for a long time."

"Oh, you poor dear," the elderly women cooed, "don't worry, we're only about an hour out, aren't we Ernie?"

"Yes dear," the elderly man didn't seem at all pleased with the hitch hiker.

"Where about, dear?" the women asked.

"Farm Road 3.141, Long Island," Thalia recited from memory.


	17. Chapter 17

"Up the dose," Jeff slammed open the door to the main control centre.

"Sir?" One technician asked from his computer.

It was obvious to see that the leader of AIM was fuming. That little lightening brat had escaped and would no doubt get in contact with her friends. SHIELD would be sniffing at their tail soon and he did not like that at all.

"I said, up the dose," Jeff pointed his finger towards where the security feed of Agent Jacksons holding cell played.

"No one has survived that high of a dose without causing themselves severe injury and lasting mental"

In one flash movement Jeff pointed his gun at the nosy man and shot him straight between the eyes; "Up the does. Secure him properly and start packing everything up. We have to move back to Master Base."

"Sir, yes, sir," the room chanted, non-daring to look at the dead man who lay on the floor.

They moved down the hall and swiped their cards in front of the sensor. The gas was cut off the room and ventilated out before the door opened. The agent blinked a couple of times and sent the two men a groggy smile.

"Who crapped in your Coco-Pops?" Percy asked sarcastically as he saw the guards tight expressions.

He had to keep up the front of carelessness. He had to act like he was fine. In truth his head was reeling. He had just had conversations with so many different people. Some dead like Luke, Kronos and his mother, while some were alive- Annabeth, Nico and even Clint. He had to admit the one with Nico had seemed real. He had really thought his cousin had come to save him.

One of the men stood behind him and yanked his head back, exposing his neck. Percy thought for a moment then Jeff might had given up and decided to deal with him the old fashioned way, but then one of the men pulled out a thick strip of leather.

"What's that for?" Percy asked as coolly as he could. The other guard tied it across his mouth and let the other secure it tightly. It was effective. Percy couldn't move his tongue or mouth enough to talk, nor could he even close his mouth.

"So you don't choke on your own tongue," one the men said gruffly as he bent down and cuffed each of his legs to the base of the chair.

The men walked out and Percy offered them the most defiant look he could muster. He didn't like this one bit. What was going on? If it wasn't physical torture that meant they were upping the mental torture. As if on cue gas hissed into the room and Percy gazed around with a hint of worry. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose to prepare himself.

When he opened his eyes though he wasn't in that damned white room. He was in his room. Not the master bedroom of his apartment, but rather the room he had occupied during his teenage years. He paused for a moment and gazed around. Same blue walls, same posters, even the same bedspread. Percy ran his fingers over the soft fabric of the bed before standing up. On the desk rested his essay on peoples desensitisation to violence, along with some photos from camp and even his ruined copy of _How to Kill A Mockingbird._

"Percy! Pancakes are ready,"

He whipped around at the sound of his mother's voice. He hesitantly exited into the hall and became distracted by the photos on the wall. All the ones he had previously destroyed now hung against the wall as if mocking him. He walked as quickly as he could towards the kitchen and found Paul sitting at the table marking papers while his mother placed a pile of pancakes in the centre of the table.

"No paperwork during meals, Paul," Sally said lightly as she went back to put the pan in the sink.

"Sorry, Sally," Paul collected up the papers and slipped them back into his briefcase, "smells delicious, Sally," Paul put a pancake onto his plate.

"Go and get them before they get cold, Percy," Sally said to her son from the sink, "or before Paul eats them all."

"You're not real," Percy said as he shook himself and backed out into the hallway.

"Are you feeling okay, honey?" Sally stepped away from the sink and gently placed her hand against his brow.

"No," Percy took another long step back, "you're not real."

"Maybe you should go lie down," Paul suggested as he abandoned his pancakes.

"No," Percy shook his head.

_If you ever need me, just call_, Hermes words echoed through his head suddenly and Percy called up to the roof, "Hermes! Hermes!"

To avoid being touched by Paul he swerved to the right and ended up tripping over his own feet (_SHIELD's best spy my arse, _he thought) and he landed on the floor, head cracking painfully against the ground. Closing his eyes against the pain he took a deep breath before opening them.

But he found himself yet again in the white room, still chained to the chair. He took a deep shuddering breath and glanced around the room wildly. Nothing had changed. He was right, the gas had become worse. Now it was full on delusions. This wasn't good. He could also see why they strengthened his bonds. His mouth tasted of blood from the rubbing of the leather and wrists and legs had begun to bleed due to the friction he created from what he guessed was his thrashing.

He just hoped Hermes had heard him.

**-This is a Line Break-**

Thalia sat in the back of the car, supporting her dislocated shoulder. The elderly women had yet to stop talking, and her constant droning on was making Thalia sleepy. She still persevered though, keeping her eyes open wide as she attempted to go through the rush of information she had collected over her capture.

"- of course Ernie here just has the biggest appetite so we always have to keep moving and looking for those lovely little meals-" the elderly women continued on.

_Of all the people to hitch hike with, _Thalia thought darkly as she shifted in the small confines of the back of the car.

The lights of the city could be seen in the distance and Thalia breathed a sigh of relief.

"-well first you need to get the guts. They're the best part. Oh- silly me, the spines much better. You crack it and suck the marrow out. You humans have such delicious marrow-"

Thalia stiffened slightly. She knew she hadn't misheard. _Monster_ she thought. As quietly as she could she gripped the door handle of the car and opened it. Wind rushed into the car, making the two monsters turn back to look at her.

"Oh, dearie, you don't want to be doing that," the women said with a glare.

Thalia did it though. She rolled out of the car. She grunted at the impact. She felt her collar bone snap, she got cut up horribly by the gravel road and only after rolling about fifteen meters did she finally slow to a stop. She barely managed to move off the road before getting run over by a large semi.

She sat down on the side of the road and stifled a pained sob. Her left arm proved useless, her leg was bleeding and stinging, and she could feel blood leaking into her eye from her temple. Just her luck she got picked up by a bunch of monsters.

"You really are unlucky, aren't you?"

Thalia spun around at the voice and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Hermes. Artemis had told her how Hermes had practicality ostracised himself from all the gods, spending all his time either working or hiding in his palace. The god though seemed rather troubled. His tracksuit was slightly crumpled and he had a light stubble (not that gods had to shave).

"I would bow," Thalia let out a sound that was a mixture between a chuckle and a sob.

"And I would make idle chit chat," Hermes glanced at his watch then up at the sky, "but we need to save Percy as soon as possible."

Thalia allowed Hermes to pull her to her feet. She let out a huge breath as her pain flittered away. She was whole again with not even blood stains to show it.

"You've talked to Percy?" Thalia asked wide eyed.

"Once," Hermes shook his head, "now I must send you on your way. I'm already in enough trouble as it is."

Thalia felt a soft breeze blow over her. She blinked, but suddenly she wasn't standing on the side of the road anymore, but rather in the centre of a gleaming lab. The first thing she noticed as the gun levelled at her head, and the arrow. Then she noticed the extremely bewildered looks on the faces of the people in the room. One of which she recognised despite the amount of time it had been since she had last seen it.

"Nico," Thalia let out a breath of relief.

"Who are you?" The one with the arrow trained at her head asked. Just from the way he was holding the bow Thalia knew he was a professional.

"Thalia," she replied shortly, "you?"

"Clint Barton," he responded.

"She's my cousin," Nico cut off the conversation and watched as Natasha lowered her gun and slipped it cleanly back into her holster. Clint easily put his bow away.

"I thought AIM had you?" a brunette with a goatee questioned.

"I got out," she rubbed her face tiredly, "I hitchhiked with these people but Hermes found me."

"You know where Agent Jackson is?" the red head who had pointed a gun at her head asked.

"Agent Jackson?" She asked confused, her tired mind not exactly thinking straight, "oh, Percy. About an hour's west."

"Stark, get onto that," the one named Clint barked.

It then hit Thalia. These had to be the Avengers. The ones the hunters kept on complaining about. Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, the two strange assassins and the Hulk. Trust Percy to get mixed up in something like that.

"Natasha, call Fury, tell him to send out the bird," Clint continued to order.

"Here, ma'am," the blonde haired one, Steve Rogers, held out his jacket, "you must be cold."

She hesitated in taking the jacket. Shaking her head she pulled herself up tall; "I'm fine."

"Take the goddamned jacket, Thalia," Nico snapped as he gazed over Tony Starks shoulder.

"Pardon?" Thalia asked, her voice angry, "you do not order me around."

"Why, because you're the high and mighty hunter?" Nico snapped back in a distracted manner.

"Because I've had a crap week and have no patience," Thalia snapped back as she pointedly ignored the jacket.

"You've never had any patience," Nico snorted to himself, "if you had patience Percy wouldn't be in this mess in the first place."

The room was deadly silent.

"Explain," Thalia hissed.

"If you hadn't jumped to conclusions about him killing Jason he might have not needed to become a spy in the first place." Nico spat.

"I know he didn't do it," Thalia glared at Nico.

"And what made you suddenly change your mind?" Nico snapped back a little surprised.

"AIM made him do it. He was the first phase of their Nano testing," Thalia quelled her anger, "but apparently they fried out before they could work fully."

The red head spun around to look at her. Her piercing eyes made Thalia actually freeze slightly. The women was obviously a friend of Percy's.

"Fury says he wants you all on it. We move out as soon as Starks got a location," the red head- Natasha- said.

"I've got it," the billionaire brought up a big image of an abandoned building, "look familiar, Miss Grace?"

"It's Thalia," she snapped, "and yes. That's it."

"No doubt they would've started to move out," Steve said, "they know we'll be coming."

"We leave in ten. Be up on the roof by then," Clint said as he picked up his bow and walked into the elevator with the red head.

"I'm coming," Nico pulled his sword out and stared at it, "I'll have to use Percy's sword," he then disappeared into the shadows.

"Bruce, you going to come?" the billionaire glanced at the spectacle wearing man.

"I'll, uh, stay here," the man fiddled with his shirt.

"I'm coming," Thalia said confidently.

"Lady Thalia, I do not believe that will be best," Thor spoke up.

"Shut it, Thunder Pants," Thalia snapped, "I'm going."

"Do you even have your weapons?" Nico suddenly reappeared. He had a new shining sword attached to his belt.

"You should go and see Ms Chase," Tony commented as he stood up, "she seems worried about you. And trust me, you won't be missing out on much."

At the reminder of Annabeth, Thalia finally gave in. Tony phoned in a driver to drive her to long island while the others went and got suited up. After ten minutes they all clambered into the bird (Nico rather begrudgingly) while Tony and Thor flew ahead. The single SHIELD agent that had flown it over would stay with the jet while the others moved in. Clint would take out sentries, Nico would go in and get out what Demigods he could, Tony would stay overhead in case of rogue bogey planes, Thor would be in charge of frying out the surrounding power lines, while Steve and Natasha had been given the job of finding Percy.

It didn't take long to reach the building. The sun had just set and everyone moved into position. Natasha and Steve entered through the back. The SHIELD agent easily handled a large amount of the guards while Steve trailed, using his shield to block bullets.

Steve had never seen Natasha actually fight anything but aliens, and he had to admit she looked rather graceful and deadly. She could down three guards in as many seconds. Her legs flew in graceful arcs and she could propel herself into the oddest positions to get the right amount of leverage needed to beat a certain opponent.

"Where is the SHIELD agent," Natasha had one of the AIM agents pinned to the floor.

"Not telling," the guard mocked in a sing song voice, though it shook a little bit, but with a simple twist of her wrist Natasha broke the man's arm.

"Let's try that again, shall we?" she repeated and Steve averted his eyes. Outside the sounds of rapid fire mocked him while thunder boomed above.

"Down the hall. To the left," he said finally.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Natasha slammed the butt of her pistol down behind his ear, knocking him out. Standing up she gripped one of the key cards, "watch my back. Stay out in the hall though."

Natasha made it into the room. She had prepared herself for maybe the typical torture scene but instead found her friend and fellow agent chained to a chair. His glazed eyes were open but not staring at anything. Word were muffled by the gag in his mouth, and the occasional strained attempt to get out of the tight metal handcuffs showed that Percy was still awake in their somewhere.

"Percy," Natasha gently undid the gag and chucked it on the floor before kneeling in front of her friend, not at all caring about the fact she was kneeling in a mixture of blood and urine.

The agents eyes cleared slightly and he stared at her, pulling his red raw lips into a smile; "hey Tasha."

"Let's get your out of here," Natasha pulled her little pocket laser out and cut through the bonds gently. His ankles and wrists had become rubbed raw and had bled through, "can you walk?"

"I don't know," Percy seemed to be having trouble just getting his shoulders into a more natural position. He still attempted to stand though. He remained steady on his feet despite his heavy swearing.

Outside in the hall Steve was still waiting. He winced a little at the sight of the Agent.

"Hey, Cap," Percy flashed him a tired smile.

"Hell, Agent," Steve said with a tired smile of his own, "let's get going-"

"Can't let that happen, sorry," a voice said from the end of the hall and the trio stopped and stared at the leader of AIM who was armed with a rather large gun.

"Jeff," Percy said the name distastefully.

"Hope you enjoyed your time here," Jeff flashed all of them a smile as the gun began to whir.

Percy felt his stomach clench almost of its own accord. He grimaced heavily and felt his knees go weak. He could feel the water all around him. Underground, in the pipes, in peoples blood. It was like his body had suddenly gone into hyper drive. Clenching his fists the walls suddenly cracked open and spewed the large body of water. A bubble of air appeared around Percy, Natasha and Steve. Steve gazed at it in wonder. The water washed Jeff down the hall and around a corner.

That proved too much for Percy as he became weak at the knees and his mind crashed into oblivion .


	18. Chapter 18

Percy opened his eyes and gazed up at the blue ceiling. The room was filled with muted light- bright enough to see, but dark enough so not to hurt the eyes. The walls were the same colour as the ceiling, offering a sense of calm. A window gave view to the hall outside (currently empty). The agent blinked a couple of times before sitting up. The bed was comfortable and he felt like he could sleep for a couple more hours, but he didn't let himself lie back down.

He gazed at his wrists. Clean without a sign of a scar. The same for his ankles. Wearing only his pair of slightly ruined pants it made it easy for him to see the lack of bruising. His shoulders felt nice and loose, and so did his back.

That was the first indicator.

The second was that he couldn't remember how he got here. Judging from the recycled air and slight tingling in his toes he was up in the air. Most likely in the hellicarrier. He could remember briefly something to do with Natasha and some water….but then nothing. Third and final was the fact he was alone. Every single hallucination he had suffered through always started out with him alone. In his cabin at camp, his apartment, even in fields, he would always end up alone.

_Repeat what you know_, he told himself. He had been forced to repeat to himself the things he knew for certain he was real, just to make sure he could hold onto reality. _Your name is Percy Jackson. You're twenty-three. You work for SHIELD. Your parents are dead. _ He had found a way to determine if it was a delusion or not. Pain. Pain was always the way to tell if it was real or not. It had to be more than a pinch though.

He stared at the water pitcher on the bed stand. He grabbed the glass and smashed it effortlessly against the floor. Picking up a shard he closed his hand around it and let it cut into his palm. He felt the sharp sting but had to keep going. It dug into the nerves and he held back a swear. He kept the pressure for a moment longer before letting the glass drop to the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Percy turned and gave Natasha an uneasy smile. The female agent held a pile of clothes in her hand and a file in the other. Percy quickly poured a bit of the water from the pitcher into his hand and sighed in relief as it healed. That would explain why his wounds were healed. The pre-Nanos must've worked their way through his system (or he fried them).

"Nothing," Percy said as he rested his hands in his lap, "it's good to see you."

"Likewise," Natasha stuck the clothes out towards him, "they were the only things in your locker."

Percy gazed at the SHIELD uniform in distaste. He- unlike Natasha and Clint-did not like wearing the full uniform. The tight blue pants and matching shirt just didn't do it for him. He didn't mind the jacket but all three together just looked horrendous.

"Thanks," Percy set the pants aside before chucking on the shirt and jacket, "so, uh, what happened?"

Natasha took a seat on the bed next to him before speaking; "Miss Grace arrived at Stark Towers a little after sunset. She told us where you were and we moved in."

"That's not all of it," Percy sent his friend a glance.

"I found you," Natasha said.

"I'm guessing it wasn't pretty?" Percy gazed down at the floor.

"I've seen worse," Natasha commented lightly, "we lost Jeff. He escaped after you washed him away with a wave. Your blood samples came back clear. We've decided to keep the operation in the sky for the time being as we look for where they move to."

"Did you find any others?" Percy questioned, "Connor Stole?"

"No," Natasha handed him the file that he squinted at, "the place was wiped clean. It's a bit suspicious how they let you go so easily."

"If you call that easily," Percy set the file aside.

"Easier than other missions we've been on," Natasha looked him in the eye, "Stark found a strong hallucinogenic in your blood. Fury wants to see you on the bridge before he clears you to continue with the mission-"

"As long as he doesn't turf me to a mental doctor, I'll be happy," Percy commented as he stood and picked up the pants. He moved to go into the bathroom, but Natasha placed a hand on his arm.

"You better not be lying about feeling fine," was all she said.

"Honestly….it was a bit off putting…but I'll be fine," Percy paused a couple of times to make sure he worded it right. He would be fine. It was just the shock of dealing with your own subconsciousness versions of someone really put him off.

"I'll meet you on the bridge," Natasha nodded before walking out, she paused again, "Nico has your sword. Guns in the left hand draw of the bed stand."

Percy went into the adjacent bathroom and changed into the tight fitting pants. He slipped on the pair of shoes that had been left by his bed before grabbing the gun from the draw. He might not to be able to shoot straight, but the weight was comfortable- to say the least. He took a moment to breathe deeply and collect himself. All those induced images seemed so real. He could still faintly smell his mother's perfume. It messed with his head and made him yearn for his mother's company. He had to remain cool on the outside though, otherwise Fury would cart him off the case.

Slipping the gun into its holster he walked out in the hall. The Hellicarrier was easy enough to navigate even though he had only been on it once or twice (it didn't exactly agree with him). The bridge was abuzz with activity. Up in the sky was where the real missions happened. Percy could see cases relating to mutants, terrorists and even Spiderman on the screens. Fury was up by the head table, talking to Clint and Natasha.

"Sir," Percy said with a nod of his head.

Instantly Fury was scrutinizing him, taking in everything from his stance to his appearance. The one eyed man seemed to be happy with what he saw because he nodded back.

"Good to have you back, Agent Jackson," Fury said.

"Good to be back, Sir," Percy said in return.

"How are you feeling, Agent?"

On the surface it was a simple question, but Percy knew that his answer would determine how Fury dealt with him.

"I feel like I need to run a couple of people through with my sword," Percy folded his arms over his chest.

"Good," Fury turned towards the screens, "we don't have a lock on AIM just yet, but we have other things to handle. I want you to go down to the research level and get one final check-up from Dr Banner. I'll give you further instructions after. Barton, Romanoff, I need to have a word with you."

Percy nodded before walking off towards the man lab. It had been fixed (mostly because Stark had put it as priority. It had only taken three weeks of work to get the Hellicarrier back in top shape) and now served as Dr Banners and Mr Starks lab. Other SHIELD agents had more practical work areas (not that Stark would let them in the lab).

Inside the modern heaven Dr Banner was tapping away at a screen while Nico was talking to Stark. The billionaire was holding the black sword in his hands while Nico was looking absolutely murderous. Percy walked deeper in the lab and swallowed thickly at the open wishbone of the Hellicarrier. The ground below was hidden by thick dark clouds that did nothing to quell Percy's hatred for the air.

"-I swear Stark-"

"Look who's up," the billionaire suddenly changed the subject as he stepped towards Percy, sword still in hand. Without seemingly thinking he pointed the sword up, the tip barely an inch from his face.

"Watch it," Percy took a step back from the sharp point.

"I've been telling him that for the past five minutes," Nico spat from behind Tony, "he won't give it back and I'm on strict 'no maiming Stark' rules."

"Since when have you been one to follow rules?" Percy questioned, distracting Tony for a moment before he thrust out his arm and grabbed the hilt (and Tony's hand in the process), then in one clean jerk he pulled the sword from the billionaires hand. He ducked slightly to avoid being skewered. Then in one swift move he flicked the around and offered the hilt to his cousin.

"Thanks," Nico minimised it and tucked it away, "and I usually don't follow the rules, but when they're made by hot dangerous assassins, it makes me fear what might happen if I disagree."

They looked at each other for a moment before Percy pulled his cousin into a hug. Nico replied with slightly awkward vigour. Percy pulled away and smiled slightly.

"You okay?" Nico asked all joking aside.

"Fine," Percy nodded and gave his cousin another smile before turning towards Dr Banner, "I'm supposed to come to you for a final check-up?"

"Oh, yes, Director Fury mentioned that," the Doctor stepped away from his screens, "we can, uh, get it done over here."

"Here's your sword," Nico casually grabbed it off the table, "she's a nice one."

"Did you just call my sword a _she?" _Percy asked in surprise as he hooked it on.

"Yes," Nico didn't seem at all fazed, "nice pants by the way."

"Shut up," Percy snapped back as he stepped into the corner of the lab.

Percy leant against a bench as Bruce picked something out of his bag. The doctor checked his pupils and heart rate, nodding as he went. He asked to look at Percy's hip and the former demigod lifted his shirt up to reveal a little pink scar- the only thing remaining from the attack.

"Your cousin explained the….Pre- Nanos," the doctor said the word awkwardly, "we couldn't find any in your blood works so they must've worked their way out of your system. You seem to be in good shape."

"Apart from that nasty little scar on your back," Tony commented from one side of the room, "that look like it hurt. What you do to earn that?"

"What?" Percy spun around to look at the billionaire, eyes blazing slightly.

"Oh gods, you do just not know when to shut up, do you?" Nico groaned as he stuck his hands into his pockets.

"That is none of your business," Percy snapped as he fixed his shirt and gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Well, I've already hacked your file," Tony tapped something on his phone and the typical SHIELD pages popped up. It was his file alright, showing a list of his missions, basic details, abilities, "that's the only thing that wasn't in there. Did it happen in Budapest? That seemed messy."

"If you hack one more file, Stark, I will make you a cyber-terrorist," Fury walked into the room, Natasha and Clint following behind.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Tony asked as he made the files disappear.

"Knowing you, you'll take it as a challenge," Fury commented darkly as he folded his arms over his chest, "Stark, Banner I need you running facial scans for everyone seen in the security tapes. Also I need you two to work on identifying the weapons we uncovered."

"Why do we have to do all the work?" Tony asked childishly.

"Captain Rogers is helping with some old files, and Agents Barton and Romanoff have been requested to attend a meeting down at the Greeks camp," Fury said with a one eyed glare, "consider yourself lucky that you haven't been thrown in jail for hacking government files."

"I have an idea, stop me if it's a little out there, but why not send the two _Greeks_ down there?" Tony asked as he pointed a finger at Percy.

"You told them?" Percy glared at Nico.

"Romanoff did," Nico said in his defence.

"They have their own things to take care of," Fury was the only answer he gave Tony.

"Why don't I believe you?" Tony raised an eyebrow as he carelessly jumped up onto a bench.

"Can't you just mind your own business?" Nico snapped at Tony and Percy figured his cousin held a great grudge against the billionaire.

"I'm just wondering why he won't send in the high ranking agent to go and talk to who I presume is family," Tony didn't seem at all deterred.

"They are not my family," Percy snapped darkly. Fury looked about ready to step in but there was a sudden pop. Instantly Natasha had her hand resting on her gun and Percy had his sword drawn slightly. He gazed around and let his eyes fall on the letter resting against the countertop. He hesitantly opened it and read the Ancient Greek.

_Dear Percy,  
I would tell you this in person, but I think turning up so suddenly would not do well by a government agency. Lord Zeus has revoked your ban in entering camp for the day (it took a lot of arguing on your behalf, but he finally caved).. He wishes for you to attend the meeting with the other two agents to investigate the disappearances and figure out how the AIM leader is getting his information._

_Use this time wisely. It's your chance to finally prove every one of your innocence. I hope you're up to it after what happened. Just call like last time and I'll help._

_-Hermes_

The letter became crumpled slightly in Percy's hand. Did Hermes honestly want him to walk into camp and face all of the people who drove him out all those years ago? Percy wordlessly rubbed the bridge of his nose before telling Fury.

"I can go," he slapped the letter down onto the desk, "_they _would prefer it if I go."

"I don't believe that's advisable," Fury glared at Percy.

"I don't think they're giving me a lot of choice," Percy watched as Nico picked up the letter and began reading it.

"You take orders from me," Fury seemed to think it was final.

"Just let him go," Nico set the letter down, "what harm could it do?"

Percy hoped it wouldn't be a lot. Either way Fury let them go. Clint got the Bird ready for take-off while Percy prepared himself for the bumpy flight to come. They land in a field a little away from camp. When they climbed out of the bird Percy instantly wished for his jeans and thick bike jacket. Instead he was left with his overly tight pants and SHIELD jacket. The three of them trekked towards the large landmark pine where Nico waited under the ferns.

"It's pissing down," Nico said distastefully as he glared up at the sky.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Percy said in an attempt to hide his awkwardness.

"Let's get this done," Natasha stepped past the borders of camp. Apparently the Gods had granted the two mortals access to the camp for the limited time. Percy knew that meant they must be serious about catching up to AIM.

Percy stepped in last. Instantly he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The sun beat down on him and the smell of strawberries and the sea filled his nose. For a moment he just stood there and soaked it all in, but then he opened his eyes. Camp looked the same as always. It sent a wave of nostalgia washing over him.

Natasha and Clint seemed mildly surprised. As they walked down the hill though their faces became stoic and well trained. Nico was already gone, rushing down to the Big House. The three spies passed through the main section of camp, drawing a lot of attention. The matching uniforms, guns, bow and sword instantly had everyone's attention.

"Hey, sweetheart," someone called from the sideline of the crowd, "why don't I show you around our fine establishment?"

Natasha didn't even spare the teen a glance. She instead kept walking forward towards the big blue house, letting Percy take the lead. The male spy walked up the steps and felt his heart miss a beat as he moved to open the door. Taking a quick deep breath he opened the door and walked into the war room where he presumed the meeting would be held.

Instantly he recognised the faces. Travis, Chris, Annabeth, Thalia, Jake and the rest of the elder senior campers. Natasha and Clint took up a position beside him, unconsciously flanking him.

"That's not-"

"You've got to be kidding me-"

"What do you think you're trying to pull?"

Chiron stopped the outbreak of chatter as he coughed. He raised his hands and gesture to the trio, "everyone, meet Agents Romanoff, Barton and….Jackson of Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."


	19. Chapter 19

"You should get a better name," Travis broke the icy silence, "that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue."

"We're called SHIELD," Clint supplied in his usual gruff 'business' voice, "we take care of the unusual problems."

"Like what?" Katie Gardener piped up.

"Like you," Natasha answered stiffly, "we've been assigned to the case."

"If you wanted us to trust you, you shouldn't have brought him," Malcolm jerked his chin towards Percy who kept a rather stoic expression.

He had learnt over the years that words meant nothing. He'd been called so many bad names in his short career in so many different languages that even they didn't have an effect on him. He had learnt the hard way that harsh words where just peoples last ditch attempts to cut a man off at the knees.

Percy could feel Thalia's stare drilling into him. He knew that she knew the truth. Hadn't she told them? No doubt she felt ashamed. _Let her feel ashamed_, the darker part of Percy's mind whispered. All these years Thalia had probably harbouring her hatred for her cousin, waiting for the moment to release it, but now she couldn't get angry at him- that would just make her look foolish.

"We shouldn't be working with them anyway," Chris glowered at a scorch mark on the pinball table, "you can't trust anyone but your own."

"We were proven wrong with that," Katie snorted to herself as she stared at Percy unabashed.

Percy didn't even let an inch of emotion flicker across his face. He

"Let's get back on topic, shall we?" Chiron coughed, "the Agents have a couple of things they want to discuss with us."

Natasha automatically took up the roll. With a confident feel around her along with an icy cold business glare it seemed no one would question her.

"The person we're facing are called AIM- Advanced Idea Mechanics. They strive to get rid of all governments through mechanical ways. They were previously underground for some years, only emerging in 2008 and now. They have utilised the use of Nano Technology, using it to control the Demigods and make them their own personal assassins," Natasha said without the slightest falter.

"What have you done about it? Is that all you know?" Malcolm questioned, "what happened to Drew? Clarisse? Or Connor and Will?"

"Drew Tanaka is dead," Percy glanced at Chiron, "we told him that."

Chiron drew himself up a little higher as every eye in the room became trained on him; "we don't have her….body yet. We wanted to wait until we did."

"Clarisse La Rue and Will Solace are with AIM. We suspect Connor is as well," Percy finished dryly.

"You don't even sound sympathetic. They were your friends and you talk about them like they're meat. That's my fiancée you're talking about," Chris growled angrily.

"Emphasis on the word _were,_" Percy said distastefully, "I don't associate myself with them anymore."

"Did you decide that before or after you killed your brother?" Katie snapped up in defence.

"Can you all just shut up?" Nico said from the shadows of the room, "do you know how childish you sound?"

"Don't you start-" Nyssa chimed in with a deadly growl, "-you're calling us childish?"

"You do not want to start this fight," Nico said as the shadows flared.

"Nico's right," Thalia spoke up for the first time, "you sound so childish. Percy didn't even do it."

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Thalia?" Travis managed to crack a joke. Everyone stared at Thalia (Percy noted that Annabeth looked thoroughly surprised), waiting for her to explain.

"When AIM took me, the leader explained it to me. Percy was their…prototype. He didn't have control over if he did it or not,"

"What have you been drinking?" Pollux snorted.

"He didn't do it," Thalia echoed her former statement, "so can we just stop being petty and let the gods be damned agents speak?"

"At least someone around here as some common sense," Clint folded his arms over his chest, "the point is that we need you to remain here. Keep an eye out for suspicious activity; see if anyone's tailing you. Any information will be useful."

"We're going to be checking the camp for cameras or surveillance of any type. We need to make this place as safe as possible," Natasha added, "that's all. Thank you for you cooperation."

With a stiff nod Natasha and Clint left. Percy fell into step behind them, glaring heavily at everyone who still stared at him in awe. Travis hadn't even bothered to pick his jaw up off the ground. Annabeth was glaring at him like it was all some big trick. No one even dared to apologise. So he left.

Outside it seemed a son of Apollo couldn't keep his hands to himself. Percy watched with an amused smirk as the poor teen squeezed Natasha's butt. Natasha turned slowly and raised an eyebrow at the offender.

"If you want to keep that hand, I suggest you don't do that again," Natasha's voice became slightly tilted with her Russian accent.

"Feisty," the blonde raised an eyebrow and bit his lip. He had to be about college age. He was good looking and no doubt used to getting what he wanted, "I like my women a little fiery."

He moved to touch a lock of Natasha's red hair, but the assassin wouldn't have any of that. She grabbed his wrist, bent down low (forcing the man to follow) before kicking his knees out from underneath in one smooth move. All the while she held his arm up a little bit, no doubt pulling all of the muscles in his shoulder. Everyone except Clint and Percy instantly backed away and let out appreciative sounds and worried groans.

"Hit on me again and I'll show you how fiery I can really be," Natasha said as she stood up. As she walked forward the crowd parted for her like the red sea. Percy would've found it amusing if it was for the current situation.

"I'll check around the cabins and arena. Tasha, you can take the hall. Percy, you can take the beach and the fields," Clint said with a nod, "meet back here in twenty."

They were about to separate when Natasha asked, "you better not be compromised."

Taking that as a _are you okay¸_ Percy replied; "I just endured twenty five hours of mental torture. Confused demigods are a piece of pie compared to this."

Percy headed to the beach first. He stood on the dunes and closed his eyes, breathing in the salty smell. He hadn't swum in five years, and he just want to dive into the murky depths. He didn't though. He began walking the dunes, looking for any unusual glints of light that could hint towards security cameras. After all, Jeff had to be getting his intel somehow.

"You dick," came from behind him. Percy ducked and spun around in a crouch as a punch whistled past him. He straightened up and glared daggers at Annabeth.

"Can you save the hormones for later? I'm working," Percy asked sarcastically as he looked at the blonde.

"I don't know what happened to Thalia when she was with AIM, but I know you're not innocent," Annabeth spat.

"Or maybe you just can't stand the thought of being wrong," Percy spat back.

"You were caught with their blood on your hands. Literally!" Annabeth yelled.

"Yes Annabeth, I killed them," Percy shocked her into silence, "and it's not like I had much of a choice! AIM made me do it. Do I think I went there and asked them to turn me into their little guinea pig?'

"Well you didn't do a good job at hunting them down, did you?"

"They've been underground for four years!" Percy let his fury slip through.

"You could've stopped them before they started taking Demigods! You act like you don't even care. To you AIM is probably just another job," Annabeth had tears of anger welling in her eyes, "you don't even seem human. You don't smile. You carry a god damned gun. Thalia told me you killed three guards with your bare hands! You're a brute."

"And who made me that way?" Percy snapped back, taking a step forward, "I wouldn't have joined SHIELD if it wasn't for you! I carry gun because it's my job! I killed those men because they would've killed me. I was tortured, Annabeth. Did Thalia tell you that? Did she tell you that AIM killed my parents?"

Annabeth seemed stunned for a moment, "your parents were mugged."

"AIM hired someone to kill them! It was their play from the start. To break me down and build me back up," Percy let out an angry sigh, "so you can go ahead and call me a murderer, hell- call me what you want. I stopped caring about you the moment you started dating my brother."

"Don't bring Tyler into this," Annabeth said in a deadly voice, "you're the one who ignored me for a whole month before I dumped you."

"My parents had just died!" Percy clenched his hands into fists, "I'm sorry if me being depressed got in your way."

"You just don't get it," Annabeth growled in frustration.

"I don't get it?" Percy said with a raised eyebrow, "you're right. What I don't get is how you come to me all angry when you should be apologising. I was ripped apart five years ago. Thrown out for something I didn't do. I lost everything. What did you lose? A boyfriend? _I had no one._ You should be apologising-"

"You're just like Luke!" Annabeth yelled over the top of him.

Percy stopped cold.

"You let me love you. You let me trust you. My whole life revolved around you," Annabeth jabbed a finger against his chest, "and then suddenly it all changed. I moved on. But then you just had to make yourself painfully obvious. _You betrayed me-_."

Annabeth suddenly let out a yell of shock as Percy's chest jerked forward. She took a step back and watched as Percy's anger filled green eyes suddenly widened. The son of Poseidon dropped to his hands and knees giving Annabeth a clear view of the golden fletched arrow that was buried in the right side of his back. The daughter of Athena look wide eyed out to the water where a boat could be seen zooming away from the camp.

"Zeus' beard," Annabeth felt her anger drain as she heard Percy taking deep rattling breaths. She knelt next to him, her shaking hands hovering over the arrow. She moved to take it out, but Percy coughed loudly and said;

"Leave it in," the voice was little more than a rasp, "call-"another deep cough "-Clint."

Annabeth wasn't an idiot. She knew the arrow would have completely pierced Percy's lung. The sand below Percy's head was splattered with blood from his coughing. The daughter of Athena stood and yelled to Travis who was on his way back to his cabin;

"Get Agent Barton! Now!"

The son of Hermes was fast. The two SHIELD Agents made it to the sand dunes in record time. Clint didn't even pause as he knelt down next to his fallen comrade.

"Natasha, call in the medics. Chase, go get Chiron," he didn't even miss a beat, "Percy, lie down."

Percy lowered himself against the sand and took another deep breath. His whole body was crying out in pain. Natasha was near his head, calling into SHIELD base.

"Get-" he ended up coughing, and he could feel the arrow shifting in his chest.

"Don't talk," Clint ordered briskly as he pulled out his knife and began cutting through his shirt and jacket.

"They'll be ten minutes. They're bringing the Hellicarrier up above," Natasha said as she watched Clint peel away the shirt and cut around the fabric near the entry wound.

Percy closed his eyes for a moment. They were just so heavy. He just wanted to sleep-

"Stay awake," Natasha said briskly as she slapped his bare shoulder.

"Mmmm-k," Percy said groggily.

Percy could feel others looking at him, but he was didn't care. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth with each raggedy breath he took.

"You need to take the arrow out and pour this in,"

Clint gazed up at the Centaur. For a moment he was surprised, but then he took the flask and handed it to Natasha. People had formed a circle around them and gazed at Percy's back in shock and horror.

"Someone go get some sea water," Natasha barked briskly as she braced her hands on Percy's shoulders. Clint took a hold of the arrow and began skilfully sliding it out. Natasha didn't even bat an eyelid as she undid the flash and poured it over the wound that had begun to gash blood.

Someone placed a shield filled with water next to Natasha and the red head ripped Percy's ruined shirt into strips before soaking them and wrapping them tightly across the wound.

"One," Clint and Natasha both wrapped arms under their friends armpits, "two-" they braced themselves to stand "-three-"

"Here, I got this," Nico pushed through the crowd, "where you want him."

"Hellicarrier. A couple clicks from here," Natasha said.

"Let's hope I don't miss," Nico wrapped an arm around his cousins waist before suddenly disappearing.

"Everybody to the mess hall," Chiron ordered in a loud unquestionable manner.

Everybody but Thalia and Annabeth begrudgingly moved.

"What happened?" Chiron questioned.

"Someone shot Percy from a boat," Annabeth pointed out across the sea, "I'm guessing it was Will."

"And he didn't see it coming?" Clint questioned, "that isn't like him."

"We were arguing. He was distracted," Annabeth replied shortly.

A sudden shock wave ran out across the seas. Thalia and Annabeth both jumped as what seemed to be a large military ship seemingly popped out of nowhere on the horizon. Clint and Natasha didn't seem at all surprised.

"Hellicarriers landed," was all Clint said, "we best be going."

"We're coming," Thalia stood her ground.

"No, you're not," Natasha said harshly.

"They've made this personal. I'll be damned if I'm just going to sit on the sidelines," Thalia growled.

"Then let's get moving."

**-This is a line break-**

They had gotten Percy set up in a room. The damage to his lung seemed to be repaired, but the bones still needed to heal. Salt water soaked bandages had to be reapplied every half hour. His heartbeat was steady and they expected he'd wake up within the hour.

Natasha had already visited. She had merely clasped her friends hand for a moment before leaving. Clint had come and gone, dropping off his friend a pile of new clothes in the process. Chiron and Annabeth were busy talking to Fury on the bridge. They wanted in- they wanted to bring AIM down, but Fury didn't like it (not a surprise, honestly).

Thalia though had been left to wonder the halls. She received a lot of odd looks from the agents in the hall. To Thalia it felt to much like a hive of buzzing bees waiting to sting. She escaped to deck only to find that filled with activity to. Agents jogged around, planes landed and took off, people carted weapons around.

It was just too busy. She was used to the business of New York, Camp and the Hunters, but this felt different. It felt wrong. It felt as if she didn't belong.

That's how she found herself sitting in the medical room. The room was just so silent, it was refreshing. But the more time she spent in the room, the more she felt the guilt well up in her. Everybody at camp hated Percy. He was innocent and they still hated him.

"I'm sorry," Thalia said. The only time she would apologise was when the stupid Seaweed Brain wasn't awake to hear it, "I thought you killed Jason and now your life is completely ruined because of it. I made a mistake with Luke and now I just feel like it's the same thing all over again."

"I've heard that before," Percy groaned from the bed making Thalia jump slightly.

"How long have you been awake?" Thalia questioned, instantly turning into the uncaring Thalia she had come to embrace over the years.

"Not long," Percy yawned loudly.

For a moment Thalia didn't see the twenty-three year old super spy. She saw the fourteen year old kid who had a bad habit of drooling in his sleep. Percy just looked so innocent….

"At least somebody apologised," he rolled onto his side and buried his head into his pillow (that made Thalia think he wasn't truly in the world of the waking).

Thalia supposed Percy had gone back to sleep. She herself was about to stand up and leave when she noticed the silence in the room. She couldn't hear Percy breathing. Not even the slightest peep. In a flash she was by Percy's side. She rolled him over onto his back and pressed a hand against his chest.

She felt no heartbeat and no rising of the chest.

In a hurry she slammed her palm against the large red _Code_ button. She then knitted her fingers together and began doing compressions, counting them out in her head. Doctors soon rushed in and pushed her out of the way. Thalia watched from the corner of the room as they attempted their own compressions. When that didn't work they began shocking him to make his heart start.

"Heart rates steady," someone said, "still not breathing. Starting respiration."

Eventually they got him 'stable'. If you call hooked up to a heart monitor and having a machine breath for you stable. Thalia explained what had happened, not understanding it at all. The doctors talked about blood tests and so on. Thalia left not long after that- she couldn't stand being left alone in a room with that repetitive beeping.

Nico soon made his way to the medical bay. He took up Thalia's abandoned seat and pulled his knees up under his chin, sitting like he used to as a child. He stared at his cousin trying to figure out what could be wrong with him. It wasn't from the arrow itself. Perhaps a poison. Nico could feel his cousins steady life force slowly weakening and it scared him.

"His blood test show large amounts of barbiturates," Clint stood in the doorway.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Nico didn't even gaze away from his cousin.

"It's used in induced comas," Clint supplied, "the arrow probably had a large amount of it stored in the head. It causes coma and breathing difficulties."

"That's not all, is it?" Nico didn't even need to look at the spy to know he was withholding something.

"It's a chemical formula Stark hasn't been able to figure out yet," Clint didn't even hesitate in his explanation.

"That sounds promising," Nico said sarcastically, "anything else you'd like to add?"

"The director wants us on the bridge,"

Nico stood and followed Clint towards the bridge. SHIELD agents were busy tapping away at their computers while the gathered group of Avengers and Demigods gathered.

"We received this video little over three minutes ago," Fury pressed a button on the desk and a sudden image appeared holographic in the centre of the table. It showed a simple room that had a small vial of something resting on a rickety table.

"_By now Agent Jackson has been suffering the side effects of that little arrow,_" a voice over said, _"in two hours he'll be a lot worse. The drugs in his system a mixture of my own creation, and only I hold the cure. Don't even try to have Stark work it out, you'll just fail miserably. Give me Agents Barton and Romanoff, and I shall tell you the location of the cure. Try any tricks and I will blow up the location. Send the Agents to Central Park zoo in exactly an hour. In short: Give me the agents, I give you the cure."_


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Okay first off, the repeat in the prior chapter has been fixed (thankyou to everyone that pointed it out), I'll try not to make it happen again. Two, I've had complaints about the amount of time I spend bashing Percy so in this chapter cut down the Percy 'bashing' to Percy 'angst' .And finally just a huge big thank you to all those who have reviewed. **

Central Park Zoo was rather silent. A couple of schools had entered to enjoy a day under the sun with animals of all shapes and sizes. A couple of parents had brought in their toddlers and newborns. Even a couple elderly couples had entered the zoo. Natasha and Clint sat on a bench outside. They looked like a pair of rather normal people. Natasha was dressed in jeans and a form fitting shirt, while Clint had echoed her clothing style, but added a pair of sunglasses to the mix. Below his sunglasses he was inspecting each and every person that even came close to the zoo, for it was coming close to the deadline, so the men had to be coming for them.

"At your three o'clock. Man with the black top," Natasha said, her lips barely moving.

Clint's gaze shifted to the man. Tall, black shirt, jeans, average looking face. Easy to lose in a crowd. He then continued to look around. His keen eyes picked up about twelve others (now that he knew what to look for). They were easy to lose in a crowd, muscled and not touching anybody.

"Show time," He commented lightly as he waited to see who would make a move.

Only one did though. The man they first sighted walked up to them and gave them a cruel flash of a smile. Without speaking he handed off a piece of paper and walked away. Natasha looked at it. It had a two words written on it, _Spring Café_.

"That's close by," Clint commented as he watched the men slowly slink away down various paths, "they obviously want us to follow."

"I could use a drink," Natasha stood up and began walking away, Clint following behind her.

Of course they hadn't come alone. Fury had made that part of the deal. For them to go they had to take a team of ten (with Tony Stark waiting by his tower to be called out), and scatter them all throughout the park. One of Natasha's requirements was that Percy didn't know. She still remembered his words from Budapest, all those years ago. _We all have fatal flaws, _he'd told her, _I'd risk the world and even my own life to save a friend_

_That's stupid, _she'd said in return, _one person isn't worth the world._

_It depends on the person, _had been his only response.

Natasha knew Percy would try to find them. That would just cause more problems than it was worth. Besides Natasha could care for herself. She knew over a hundred ways to kill someone without a weapon. She could seduce a man in under three seconds. She could kill the president if she wanted and walk out of the White House without a scratch. She was the Black Widow and she knew how to take care of herself.

The café was small and hidden in a more unvisited section of the park. No other patrons could be seen except a single man who sat under a bright yellow umbrella, enjoying what seemed to be an ice tea. Clint confidently walked up to the man and sat down at the table while Natasha chose to gaze around once more before sitting down.

"I must say, Agent Romanoff, you are a lot cuter in person," the man was yet again another one you could lose in a crowd. Black hair and brown eyes was a normal combination. "I'm Jeff."

Clint remove his glasses and set them down on the table, "a bit cocky coming out in the open, isn't it?"

"I prefer to deal with things myself," Jeff sipped on his ice tea; "I suppose you want the address?"

"Preferably," Natasha said carelessly, "and a drink."

A waiter scurried out from inside. She was a girl no older then eighteen, with long blonde hair that was flecked with blood, wide red rimmed eyes and blood soaked clothes. Her hands shook as she obediently took the orders and scurried inside. Clint felt a flash of pity rush through him as he looked at the girl. As the door swung open the spies noticed the pool of blood on the floor.

"I needed the place to myself," Jeff said before sliding a phone across the table, "address is already ready in a message for you. You just need to add the number."

Clint took the phone and punched in the number in the SHIELDs control. Something was off. The man was being too easy with them. They hadn't been checked for weapons. He handed them a phone. He was acting like they were children, not spies.

"We know you'd have cameras there. Let us see the feed," Natasha watched as Clint stood up and threw the phone. With his strong muscled back and arm, the power he needed came easily, and the phone sailed through the sky and above the trees before it disappeared.

"Why should I? He just threw my phone," Jeff seemed mildly pissed. The waitress came back and deposited the drinks with shaking hands.

"Because if you don't I'll snap your neck," Natasha said calmly as she sniffed at her drink. Smelling no foul play she took a drink.

"And I'll have my sniper shoot you through the head," Jeff replied with a big smile, "just like he has your other little SHIELD helpers. I did tell you to come alone."

"Can't blame us for trying," Clint too took a sip of his drink as he sat down, "the video feed?"

Jeff rolled his eyes and with a snap of his finger some random henchman came from inside the restaurant and handed the black haired man an Ipad. With a few simple swipes he had brought up an image feed. Turning it around to face the spies he spread his arms wide.

"There you go, live feed," he commented lightly as he continued to sip his drink.

Clint and Natasha watched as the shadows built in the room and Nico ran out of the shadows. The son of Hades paused for a moment and gazed around, sword ready. Sensing nothing he stepped forward to were a single vial rested on a raised dais, picked it up, before disappearing into the shadows yet again.

"So the deals complete," Jeff took the Ipad away and drunk the last of his drink. Standing up he looked at his watch, "good doing business with you."

"That's it?" Clint questioned.

"Oh, right," he did a slight face palm as if he found it amusing, "kill them."

The last part wasn't directed towards them.

**-This is a line break-**

"That is amazing," the lady doctor (Nico recalled that she introduced herself as Genevieve) said as she read through a new list of vitals, "heart palpitations are gone, the liver is starting to detox itself, he's even breathing by himself."

Percy had already been taken off the breathing machine and instead had a constant flow of oxygen from nasal cannula. The doctor flashed a smile before leaving the room to give a report to Fury. Nico instead took up his former perch on the chair and waited. It had become his job to watch over Percy and make sure he didn't do anything rash (in other words make sure he didn't find out about the mission).

It seemed whatever they had given him was working a treat. His cousin began to groan on the bed, kicking the sheets down lower off his body. Nico stared for a moment and watched as his cousin opened his eyes blearily. For a moment Nico saw a flash of fear, but then it seemed to melt away as his cousins face settled into a calm mask.

"I feel like Mrs O'Leary just sat on me," he groaned, voice raspy as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Not even close," Nico muttered from his seat.

"What happened?...Actually, I don't want to know," Percy closed his eyes for a second. Nico thought he had drifted off to sleep for a moment, but Percy's eyes suddenly shot open, "are Clint and Natasha okay? They didn't get shot, did they?"

How much did his cousin remember? Not much, Nico guessed. From the sounds of it he only remembered being skewered by the arrow. Nico kept his face calm as he replied; "they're up on the bridge talking to the Pirate Man."

Percy's brow seemed to crinkle for a moment as he stared at Nico, and for a moment the son of Hades thought his lie had been caught out, but then Percy just nodded and closed his eyes. "I can't sleep if you're watching me."

"You seemed to be doing an all right job before hand," Nico joked lightly as he stood, trusting that his cousin just truly wanted to sleep, "I'll be up on the bridge….that is if you don't sleep through the whole day."

"Just shut up," Percy said sarcastically as he rolled his closed eyes.

Percy heard Nico leave down the hall. Once he was sure his cousin was gone he pushed himself into a sitting position. His arms felt like lead, his eyes felt heavy, and his whole body ached. His breathing was a bit laboured so he didn't attempt to remove the cannula. Nico had been lying. He had been trained to tell when someone was lying, and his cousin most certainly was.

Reaching down to the bedside table he felt his hand close around his sword and he breathed a sigh of relief. He then dug through the draws and found a set of clean clothes, some shoes, and his phone. Taking out the phone he attempted to log into the Hellicarrier Wi-Fi.

_Access Denied._

Percy squinted at the keypad. He hadn't put the password in wrong, had he? He typed it in slowly, making sure he got it right.

_Access Denied._

Placing the phone down he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He ripped out the cannula and waited for his head to stop spinning before setting his feet on the floor. Standing up he had to wait yet again for his head to keep up before he could get changed.

He then went out into the hall and began moving towards Starks lab. Stark had easy access to all of SHIELDs files. His account had been blocked for some reason. Percy had to stop a couple of times, some for people to pass, and others to catch his breath. His body felt like he had just run a marathon.

Thankfully the lab was empty. Percy moved over to one of the computers and closed all of the open files. He moved into the _In Progress _section of the files and began scanning through. Finding the _Nano Project _file he opened it began scanning through.

_Status_

_Agents_

_Current Feeds_-

That's what Percy was looking for. Clicking on _Current Feeds_ he looked at the five different video feeds that popped up, along with an audio box. Clicking on the box he listened.

"_Bird to nest. No contact from numbers one through to nine. Awaiting orders," _someone said, and Percy looked at the video feeds. They all seemed trained on various spots in Central Park.

"_Operatives one to nine are down. Stand down. Sending Stark in_," the voice of Maria Hill crackled through.

"_Roger that,_"

"_Stark, you copy?" _Maria asked, but the only response was a bunch of static.

Percy scoured through the video feeds. He paused it when it got about thirty minutes back, showing a picture of Clint and Natasha walking away from the Zoo. It didn't take Percy long to notice the oddly tense men slinking around in the background, slowly disappearing.

"That bastard," Percy paused it as he saw Jeff walking toward the west side of the park. Pushing away from the bench he gripped his sword. Fury sent Clint and Natasha to get rid of Jeff? That man was more capable then he appeared…If they got caught, Percy knew the torture would be a lot worse. After all, everyone has their demons.

Percy inched out into the hall again. He couldn't let Natasha and Clint get into the hands of AIM. They were very capable people, but AIM was a whole corporation. It would take more than two people. He made it onto the deck without being noticed. After that though, it was kind of hard to not be noticed.

He needed to get off the Hellicarrier. There was the obvious choice of swimming to the shore, but Percy and salt water hadn't gotten along for a long time. The sea creatures didn't like him anymore, so they always caused a hassle, and the waves actually seemed to get a mind of their own when it came to him.

"Blackjack," He whispered as he gazed at the tiny speck that was camp by the shore. Would his Pegasus come to him? He didn't know. It was worth a shot.

"Agent Jackson, aren't you supposed to be resting?" Fury's voice broke over the deck.

"Sleeping's over rated," Percy commented without looking towards the director. He kept on putting out mental thoughts for his Pegasus, keeping an eye on the skies as well.

"Says the man who is shaking at the knees from over exertion," Fury came up beside him, "you just came out of a chemically induced coma. You need rest."

"Nine of our men are already down, and I'm betting the tenth isn't far behind," Percy relayed the information he had heard through the audio feed.

"That is not your concern, Agent Jackson," Fury followed Percy's gaze upwards to the sky.

"They can't take AIM alone," Percy tried to keep his breathing even.

"They don't have to," Fury commented, "it's a touch and go mission. Get the cure for _you_, and then leave."

"Then why haven't they keyed back in?" Percy didn't even want to ask _why _he needed a cure.

"Things like this take time,"

A sudden great black shadow covered a section of the tarmac. Everyone hit the deck as a large, black winged horse touched down. A few agents took out guns and aimed them at the majestic creature who just flared its wings in warning.

"I didn't think you'd come," Percy commented as he completely ignored Fury and swung onto Blackjacks back.

_I've been waiting for you to call for five years, _Blackjack said in response, _you owe me five years' worth of donuts._

"Get off the Pegasus, now, Agent Jackson," Fury said in a deadly voice.

"I'm not leaving two of the best agents- my friends- to fight that bastard," Percy growled as he clenched his knees into the horses ribs.

"They're doing fine on their own," Fury fixed a cold glare on him.

"Then they won't mind a little help," Percy said in a snap as he mentally urged Blackjack forward.

He was not going to lose any more friends to people who fancied themselves better than others. He may be injured, panting, and tired as all hell, but he knew Natasha and Clint would do the same for him.

**Notice! I'm going on holiday from the 8****th**** to 12****th**** and school starts again on the 16****th**** so updates will become fewer. Oh and I've read **_**Mark of Athena **_**and oh gods….I just can't (slight spoiler)…..the ending was like Supernatural season 5 it just made me fan girl and die from all the feelings. Oh, and supernatural season 8! So happy!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Here are some of the commonly asked questions answered (feel free to ignore)**

_**Is this going to be Percabeth**__**?: **_**No. Though I do support Percabeth, in this story it would just be stupid to establish a pairing. Besides, I have already hinted towards Annabeth having on off screen relationship with someone unimportant.  
**_**Is Percy going to have a pairing**__**?: **_**No, not at this moment. I cannot think of anyone appropriate.  
**_**How many more chapters are there going to be?**_**:**** I'm planning around five or six.  
**_**Is there going to be a sequel**__**?: **_**I'm thinking yes….I already have a working title '**_**The Worth of the World."**_

Percy forgot what it felt like to fly Blackjack. He never realised how much he missed the wind through his hair, to see a nice view of New York—he felt free. Up here no one could get him. No one could contact him. It felt nice. He felt like a teenager again…..well, a really tired and battered teenager.

_Circle above,_ Percy said to Blackjack as they reached Central Park.

_Sure, Boss_, it seemed his Pegasus still liked to annoy Percy by calling him boss.

Percy shook his head at his horses antics before looking down at the park. He focused on the Zoo but didn't even see a single bright flash of Natasha's fiery hair. He guided Blackjack a little lower, watching with disinterest as the mortals looked in awe at the apparent '_kite' _(honestly, a kite? Blackjack looked like a kite through the mist? The things mortals would believe).

"They have to be here," Percy said to himself as he tangled his fingers in Blackjacks silky mane. He felt a pang of worry, but it soon became lost in the swirling storm of emotions that was building up inside him.

_You reckon that café sells donuts?, _Blackjack questioned as he nodded his head towards a little café nestled away from. Percy was just going to ignore his horsey friend, but when he looked at the café he saw a flash of red followed by the sound of muffled gun shots. Percy instantly urged his friend into a dive. Standing up slightly on Blackjacks back he took a moment to evaluate the situation.

Natasha had gotten her hand on a gun and was pointing it at Jeff's head. Ten other men had guns trained on her, but she didn't seem to care. Clint seemed to be in the worst position though. Jeff had him in a choke hold while he pointed a gun at the archers head. The male SHIELD agent was sporting a rapidly bleeding head wound and most likely a concussion.

_For each man you take down, you get a donut, _Percy said to Blackjack as they landed.

Instantly half of the guns became trained on him. Natasha spared a glance at him and Percy was surprised by the harshness of the glare. It made him want to crawl into a hole just to get away from her. Jeff blinked in surprise and looked him up and down.

"You came weapon less?" the black haired man snorted in amusement as he took the safety off his gun.

"No," Percy said as he straightened to his full height, gripped the hilt of his sword and pushed down the lethargic feeling that was running through his body. He gave a mental _all clear _to Blackjack and watched for a fraction of a second as Blackjack reared up high and brought his hoofs down upon one of the men with a gun.

Natasha took the distraction and used it to her advantage. Ducking low to avoid bullets she shot Jeff's exposed left knee. As Jeff cried out in pain, his hold on Clint lessoned. The archer dropped and rolled out of the way, grabbing the fallen gun in the process. Natasha and Clint then began shooting down the remaining men (Blackjack had already taken out three). Percy on the other hand kept his gaze trained on Jeff who was looking like his about to make a run for it (well, he couldn't exactly run with a ruined leg.)

Percy though wouldn't have any of that. He charged forward and tackled the man to the ground and pinned him down with his knees.

"You recovered faster than planned," Jeff muttered as he shifted a little bit under Percy's heavy hold.

"I'm just full of surprises," Percy gazed over his shoulder and watched as Natasha finished the last armed man by shooting him cleanly through the thigh.

"So am I," Jeff suddenly bucked up, forcing his knees into Percy's back. He then in one swift, well executed move threw Percy off him. Percy landed hard on the ground—shocked into stillness for a moment. How had Jeff been able to throw him off? Percy was the bigger man, and Jeff had been shot in the knee….

But as Percy looked up he watched as the last of the wound of Jeff's knee disappeared. How could he heal so fast? Percy didn't have time to think as he stood up and charged again, ignoring the tired and pained cries of his body in the process. He fainted towards the right before snaking up and landing a solid right hook. Jeff seemed unaffected though as he cracked his neck and returned with a right hook of his own.

Percy blinked away stars before bending down low and shoulder ramming the man. Jeff fell to the ground again and Percy was upon him in a flash, throwing punches left right and centre on the man. He then remembered he had a sword and he drew it. Pressing it against the older man's neck he watched a little drop of blood rolled away.

"Why not just kill me? I'll just be another person added to the list," Jeff chuckled despite the sharp sword held against his neck, "you must be so glad your mother isn't alive to see what you've become."

Percy pressed the sword a little harder, making more blood flow; "don't talk about her," he hissed.

"Emotional much?" Jeff seemed to find the situation highly amusing.

The son of Poseidon was tempted to run him through with his sword right there and then, but he felt a hard, cold grip settle on his shoulder. Turning he saw the glowing golden face mask of Iron Man staring down at him.

"Cool your jets, Lancelot," the slightly metallic voice of Tony said. Percy noticed that his suit was rather bashed up and dented.

"Ooh, Lancelot? Nice name. I must say Stark if there is one thing I can appreciate about you it's your sense of humour," Jeff's face was slowly beginning to become less bruised, "oh, and your Arc Reactors. Fabulous little things."

"So I've been told," Tony muttered as he pressed down on the side of his calf, making a little hatch open. Natasha walked up and grabbed a pair of handcuffs from within.

"Hands," she said harshly as she held the handcuffs.

"Anything for you, hot stuff," he said with a grin as he easily wiggled his hands out from where they had been pinned by Percy.

Only once the leader of AIMs hands had been cuffed did Percy stand up. He knew the man could escape easily if he so chose. Percy took a couple of steps back and caught his breath. His whole body cried out in pain and he could feel his jaw swelling from the harsh hit he had been dealt.

A bird landed in the field, making the trees bend away and the scattered debris. Blackjack pranced away and neighed nervously. Percy walked on shaking legs and put a comforting hand on his horse's neck. Clint climbed into the cockpit of the bird while Natasha watched with a keen gaze as Stark lead Jeff into the back of the aircraft.

_You owe me some donuts, boss_, Blackjack skittered away again as the bird took off.

"Yeah," Percy leant heavily on his friend, feeling the adrenaline race out of him, "I do."

"You shouldn't have come," Natasha looked at him and glared heavily.

"I couldn't leave you to fight him alone," Percy muttered as he watched another bird prepare to land.

"Yes, you could," Natasha walked up to Blackjack who backed away nervously.

_She's angry, Boss; _Blackjack said as he flared his nostrils and neighed nervously.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Percy muttered to Blackjack as he moved towards his horse and swung up onto his back.

SHIELD agents came out of the newly landed bird and began apprehending the goons with guns. Natasha took the moment to climb aboard the winged horse skilfully. Blackjack neighed nervously and swung around to look at her with an accusing glance.

"He doesn't like you on him," Percy said as an explanation, surprised Natasha had instantly gone for the horse, not the plane.

"Too bad," Natasha seemed rather short and testy, "get us back to the Hellicarrier."

Percy slung himself up onto the horse guided him mentally upwards into the sky. Natasha didn't even seem fazed as she gripped onto the horse with her legs. Blackjack neighed nervously and kept on saying how he had a fair of ten donuts per extra passenger. Percy tried to get a hold of himself and get himself ready for the chewing out Fury would give him. Honestly, he just wanted to sleep.

They landed on the deck of the Hellicarrier, yet again making the ground staff nervous. Percy guided Blackjack away from the landing area and towards the service deck. Natasha jumped off at the first chance and walked confidently inside the aircraft without a second glance. Percy knew he was in big trouble.

He climbed off Blackjack slowly, suddenly feeling like an old man. He patted Blackjacks mane before letting the winged horse return to Camp. Percy walked slowly back into the building and towards the bridge. The bridge was a flurry of activity. Agents walked around sorting things out while others tapped away at their computers with amazing speed. As always, there was Zach, playing Galaga (how Fury hadn't caught him yet remained a mystery).

The Avengers (minus Clint) sat around the table with Annabeth, Thalia and Nico. Nico was looking rather grouchy as he slumped in the seat. At the sight of Percy, Nico seemed to darken even more. Percy gave a helpless mental shrug before instantly drawing himself higher at the advancement of Fury.

"You deliberately disobeyed orders," Fury began, "despite the fact that nobody wanted you on the mission."

"I have a bad habit of doing that" was all Percy could say.

"You put not only yourself in danger, but every other agent that was taking part," Fury continued to advance while the room fell into a deathly silence, but was broken by Tony's amused little chuckle that he failed to hide.

"Would you like to take my job?" Fury stopped in front of Percy, "do you want to run the show and call the shots?"

"No, sir," Percy kept his expression stoic.

"Then would you like me to get you a throne so you can sit were you obviously think you belong?" Fury folded his arms behind his back and stared at Percy with his singular eye.

"No, sir," Percy replied as he bit his tongue.

"Then I suggest you take a seat and learn how to take orders," Fury said shortly as he turned away and faced the screens.

Percy clenched his fist slightly before sitting down in an open seat (next to Thor). Clenching his fists under the table he kept the calm façade as Fury began to talk to the group as a whole.

"This…Jeff has been contained and we were going to send Agent Romanoff in for questioning…." Fury brought up an image of the Hulks prison which was now occupied by Jeff (who was smirking at the cameras), "…but he has requested someone different."

"Who?" Steve questioned as he looked at the feed.

"Miss Chase," Fury's gaze focused on the blonde who looked surprised.

"Why me?" She questioned as she gathered her wits.

"That, Miss Chase, still remains a mystery," Fury commented, "Agent Romanoff will accompany you."

"I don't get a choice?" Annabeth questioned in surprise.

"Well, if you say no, we might have to use other methods to make him talk."

**There you go! Your update! I'm starting to work on original stories so I hope that doesn't mess up my update schedule. **


	22. Chapter 22

Agent Romanoff took the lead towards the holding cell.

Annabeth followed behind the fiery red head, suddenly feeling very small and unimportant. The red head had changed back into the skin tight cat suit and was armed with dangerous and deadly looking weapons. Her red hair was neatly in place and her makeup- despite her previous battle- was still perfect. Agent Romanoff's hips seemed to sway as she walked; drawing attention to her well sculptured behind, and that cat suit certainly didn't attempt to hide any of her cleavage. Dressed in jeans, a singlet and a jacket Annabeth thought she must look like a hobo next to the agent. Her hair wasn't exactly neat, and her clothes weren't really as flattering.

What was worse was that Annabeth had seen the agent in action. She could kill a man easily with just a well angled kick. As lithe as a cat and fast as a cobra she seemed deadly. Annabeth was very proud of her fighting skills, but this woman was just so good it made her want to gasp in appreciation.

To be honest Annabeth wouldn't be surprised is Percy had a thing for her. The way she looked, along with the way she acted, it seemed to be the thing Percy would go for. But she had said that they weren't allowed relationships (did that mean they wanted to date?). Yet again though Annabeth had noticed the slight over protectiveness exerted by Clint Barton. They had obviously been working together for a long time. They could communicate with looks and fought together in a nice, clean and practiced style. So obviously Percy had come later…..

The three agents seemed to make a perfect little trio. The arrows, the guns and the sword. Black Widow, Hawkeye and Kraken. Annabeth couldn't help but feel a twinge of something she couldn't quiet name. She, Percy and Grover had been part of their own little trio before Percy went ahead and ruined it.

_Percy didn't have a choice_, part of her brain whispered to her.

She pushed that away though. It was the least of her problems at the moment. Right now she had to focus on what Agent Romanoff was telling her about interrogating people.

"I don't know how good of an actor you are so I suggest you stick to the basics. Always keep eye contact. Don't slouch. Don't mumble. Whatever he says make sure you don't show that it affects you. Don't let him get control of the situation. We need you to find out where his main base is, why he's doing what he is, and what his personal interest in this is," Agent Romanoff didn't even miss a beat as she spoke.

"Okay," Annabeth rested a hand on her newly belted dagger. It had been so long since she had worn it, but now she needed to know it was there. It was like her anchor.

"Don't let him get personal," Agent Romanoff stopped by a heavy metal door and typed in a code before letting it take a scan of her retina.

The door slid open and Agent Romanoff entered. Annabeth was yet again taken by the room. In the centre rested a large, round glass cell with only a single hard bed. It looked sleek and modern, obviously newly built. Around it was a series of walkways and a large control panel.

Jeff stood in the middle of the cell, not looking at all nervous. At the sight of Annabeth he smiled brightly and waved like a child. Annabeth took a deep breath while she watched Agent Romanoff type a couple of commands into the controls.

"You wanted me," Annabeth said, "I'm here."

"You're blunt," Jeff said with mock surprise.

"It's a family trait," Annabeth replied rather coolly.

"I suppose it is. Cheating on loved ones a family trait as well isn't it? Well I can't say its cheating….you did dump him first," Jeff shrugged helplessly, "you also inherited backstabbing. Now that's my favourite trait. You see it a lot nowadays, but you? You just did it perfectly."

Annabeth felt the low blow. It was obvious what he was referring to. The way she had dated Tyler after dumping Percy (in all honesty, she had given a fair amount of time before moving on) and then didn't believe Percy. Keeping her face cool she replied.

"We're here to talk about you," she spared a glance to Agent Romanoff who nodded minutely, "what are you? Mutant? Demigod? Lab experiment gone wrong?"

"Is there an option for none of the above?" Jeff began pacing his cell.

"Then what are you?" Annabeth asked.

"Lab experiment gone _right,_" he replied with a wicked grin, "all it took was a little bit of sweat, cell isolation and cell duplication."

"You isolated the mutant cell work?" Annabeth guessed mind working a million miles an hour.

"No. I isolated the little nice change the River Styx made to Agent Jackson. It was quiet an interesting discovery. A completely isolated cell that had duplicated to almost form a shield over his normal cells….just fabulous. It was a scientist's wet dream."

"The River Styx is magical, not chemical," Annabeth reasoned.

"'_Magic is just science we don't understand yet'_- Arthur C. Clarke," Jeff said wittily, "of course I didn't get the full affect. I got the bonuses. I'm not invincible, but I heal. I don't have a mortal spot either, in case you were wondering."

"So is making yourself a mutant part of your super-secret game plan?" Annabeth questioned, trying to remain calm as she processed all the oncoming information.

"Oh, I'm much better than those low little mutants. I'm better then everyone," Jeff clapped his hands together, "which is why, as cliché as it sounds, I want to rule the world."

"Wow," Annabeth breathed, "you're right, that does sound cliché."

Jeff just shrugged again.

"While you're in here, what's going to be happening out there?" Annabeth questioned, "whose going to be running the show?"

"A penguin," Jeff deadpanned.

"This is very serious," Annabeth said tonelessly.

"Really, I never would've noticed," his voice oozed sarcasm.

"How about a simpler question. Why did you want me to question you?" Annabeth asked, her glare drilling into the AIM leader.

"Because we're so alike," Jeff let out a hearty chuckle.

"I'm nothing like you," Annabeth said without second thought.

"Oh, really?" Jeff turned to face her, "because I've already spotted a couple of similarities. Do you want to hear them?"

"We're done here," Natasha said sharply, but Annabeth held up a hand.

"I want to hear this," she said.

"Point one," Jeff said with a wicked grin, "we both want knowledge. We'd do anything to gain just a little bit of knowledge."

"It's a common trait," Annabeth retorted.

"We both have rather large egos," Jeff looked her up and down, "the difference there is that I can admit mine is pretty large."

"Chase, leave, now," Natasha was getting antsy.

"I do not have a big ego," Annabeth replied icily.

"Yes, you do. You want buildings with your name plastered on them. You want to be important. You need people to tell you how amazing you are. You can't even realise when you're wrong," Jeff was standing right on the edge of the glass, "tell me, have you even apologised to Agent Jackson?"

That's when Annabeth turned around and admitted defeat. She had just reached the door when Jeff spoke up again.

"Oh, and we're both very good at getting distracted," he said just as a large explosion rocked the Hellicarrier.

**-20 Minutes Previous, Training Room, Hellicarrier-**

Percy couldn't sleep just yet. After a swift shower he was yet again awake and ready for action- at least for the time being. The only problem was that there was no action. So instead, Percy headed to one of the many training rooms. Due to the large commotion AIM was creating, the training room was void of anyone except Captain America.

Truth be told Percy wasn't expecting to see him there. He thought the blonde haired man would be paying vivid attention to the interrogation that would be taking place in five minutes. Instead, the man was in the gym wearing sweats and a white t-shirt, beating the crap out of a punching bag.

Percy had decided to keep away from the interrogation. He'd had enough AIM for the moment. He just wanted to go to the gym and get his mind off work. Even though he knew there was a lot more to be done, Percy just thought he deserved a little break. Seeing as Natasha was helping out Annabeth with her interrogation skills, Clint was in the medical bay and Nico was mad at him for going out on an escapade (Percy still found that odd)- the gym seemed like the good option.

As Percy entered the gym he set his sword, gun and towel down on a bench. The Captain looked up from his furious punching and offered a slight wave.

"Hi, Agent Jackson," he said as swiped his blonde hair from his sweaty brow.

"Can we drop the Agent part? Percy's fine," Percy said as he wrapped his knuckles with tape.

"Only if you call me Steve," the Captain said with a small smile.

"Fine by me," Percy took a position in front of a punching bag next to Steve's.

He began punching _right, left, right_ at the bag. He didn't have as much force behind the punches as Steve, but that didn't really faze him. After a couple of minutes of routine punches he took a couple steps back and stretched out his legs. Steve paused to look at him quizzically, but Percy just smiled before stepping forward again to start round house kicks, snap kicks and nearly every other type of kick available. If someone had told Percy he'd become this flexible, he would've just laughed and called them crazy. Now though, he could kick high as easily as he could throw a punch.

"You're very….spry," Steve commented as he stepped away from his punching back and walked over to grab his own towel.

"Water gives me a lot of energy," Percy commented as he caught his bag.

"Is that a part of being a son of Poseidon?" Steve attempted to make small talk.

"Yeah," Percy didn't seem overly happy about it.

"It must be nice," Steve said to fill he silence.

Percy landed a punch so hard that the chain rattled and creaked dangerously; "that's the over statement of the year."

"Sorry," Steve said honestly, not fully understanding.

"Don't be," Percy sat down and used the towel to get rid of his sweat, "you're just giving your opinion."

"Why is it so bad? If I'm not pressing my boundaries?" Steve knew that SHIELD agents had a tendency to be rather closed off.

Agent Jackson certainly seemed to be. Steve still knew little about the man. He was a great fighter, loyal, persistent and had a past with Annabeth Chase. He had attended that camp for a while but for some reason left and now hated it. There was also a look in his eyes that Steve knew well. He looked like a man who had lost a lot.

Percy sighed before answering. "The gods are unappreciative. You can save the world and they won't think twice about casting you aside," the agent seemed to be speaking from experience.

"Is that why you joined SHIELD?" Steve couldn't help but ask.

Percy stood and chucked his towel down before picking up his sword and unsheathing it. It took him a moment to answer, "I joined SHIELD because I honestly didn't have any other options."

Steve was about to question some more but a sudden explosion rocked the hellicarrier. While Steve fell out of his seat rather ungracefully, Percy crouched down low and braced himself with the sheer power of his legs. After the shock had dissipated the pair straightened up and looked at each other.

"Meet you up on deck," Percy left the sheath of his sword on the bench, picked up his gun, then ran from the room to join the flurry of SHIELD agents.

Percy made it onto the deck quickly. He found two of the jets were on fire while one whole portion of the deck was a smoking hole. Up above planes flew- not of a make or model of SHIELD. Agents were scattered, taking battle positions. Out on the water were three fully battle ready ships.

Without an ear piece he had no idea what he supposed to do. Luckily the Captain came and ran up next to him. He wasn't dressed in uniform, but was still armed with his shield.

"Here," he stuffed a small earpiece into Percy's hand. The agent nodded his thanks before clipping it in.

"_We are taking on water. I repeat, we are taking on water. The wish bone has been breached."_ Hill broke through the ear piece.

"Dammit," Percy thrust his gun towards the Captain before saying into the ear piece _"I've got this."_

"_Plug the leak then take out the ships," _was Hills rushed reply.

Percy moved through the flurry of activity towards the edge of the ship. Steve followed behind him, obviously staying with the agent so they could fight together. Percy though was preparing himself for the water. He hadn't swum in the ocean for five years. He supposed now was the time to start swimming again.

He dived down into the water- and as always, he didn't even feel a speck of pain from the impact. Under the water he could still breath normally and see clearly. It was the same as it ever was. So he gripped his sword and propelled himself along the side of the hellicarrier, making it to the end he turned sharply and entered the wishbone. The thick glass that encased Starks lab had been shattered, along with all the other glass in the wishbone.

Percy floated in the water for a moment and tried to figure out how he could fix this. The power of the ocean washed through him and he felt like he could hold the sky. Pushing his arms out in front of him he focused on the water that was now pushing against the vacuum sealed doors with amazing pressure. Pulling his arms back the water followed, leaving the levels. Now there was the problem of keeping it out.

Focusing hard he imagined a thick wall of ice encasing the open space. The water began to harden and become cloudy before finally become a solid block of glass. It acted as a nice little defence. No water could get in. It was like glass. Percy only hoped it would work.

As another explosion rocked the ship Percy got to test his handy work. Thankfully not a single crack appeared. So swimming to the surface again he set his sights on the ship that seemed to be firing of a range of different things. Diving under the water again he swam up alongside the boat and stuck his sword into the hull before propelling himself backwards and creating a nice long, deep scrape in the metal.

As water poured into the boat, Percy rocketed up above the sea. A mini hurricane pushed him upwards, keeping him floating in the water. People began yelling and pointing at him. The ship that he had punctured was beginning to sink, but with a powerful mental shove, a wave rose out of the ocean and swallowed it.

He raised his fingers to his mouth and whistled. It was a good New York cab whistle that drew everyone's attention almost immediately. He just needed it to draw the attention of a certain creature though. Within seconds Blackjack was swooping down towards his slowing mini hurricane.

_Show off, _Blackjack said mentally as Percy stopped the hurricane and propelled himself onto Blackjacks back.

"You can talk," Percy muttered sarcastically before keying in, _"one ship down. Wishbone momentarily fixed. I'm going to take out the other ships."_

"_We've got Thor and Thalia taking out the planes," _Hill replied.

Sure enough Thalia and Thor did seem to be working together. Thalia was holding her spear on the deck and charging lightening up into the sky while Thor absorbed the lightening mid-air with his hammer and released it ten times larger. Percy focused his attention back onto his target- the largest of the ships. He had Blackjack corkscrew down onto the deck before he got off and grinned at the ten people that encircled them.

"Do you really want to be doing this?" Percy asked as he got down into a fighting position.

Before they could answer though Nico suddenly appeared next to Percy (literally coming out of his shadows). His cousin began to take down guards and Percy was forced to follow. Blackjack circled above, distracting the fire away from the Hellicarrier. Between Percy and Nico it was easy to beat the ten men.

Percy hailed Blackjack down again and let Nico climb on first. Percy rammed his sword into the deck and after removing it a huge fountain of water began pouring out. Climbing up onto Blackjack he let him take to the air and head towards the next ship. But his keen eyes picked up something. A new plan had arrived. It was high above the flight deck. Thalia and Thor were busy handling the largest of the planes while the people on the deck were trying to handle the men who had managed to come aboard.

Percy wondered why for a moment but then he spotted it. Jeff had crawled out of one of the holes in the deck and was walking towards the ladder that had just been released from the plane.

"Take out that ship," Percy said before jumping off Blackjack and into the water.

When he came to the edge of the Hellicarrier he had the water push him up and onto the deck. He ran through the crowds of masses, watching as Jeff came closer and closer to escape. When the time came though Percy didn't swing with his sword. He dropped his sword and tackled the older man so hard they rolled onto the hard deck.

Percy was flipped off as easily as a child threw away a rag doll. Landing hard yet again it only took him a moment to regain his footing. Jeff just smirked at him and Percy smirked back. In one solid swing of his arm a wave of water rose up and washed the leader of AIM off the deck.

"_Do not kill. I repeat, do not kill," _Hill broke through.

"_No promises,_" Percy replied as he dived over the edge.

He saw Jeff clearly. The man was kicking with his legs to stay above the water, but with one swift tug the black haired man was dragged down into the depths of the water by Percy. While Jeff was weighed down by his clothes, Percy wasn't wet at all. His ear piece was even working perfectly.

Jeff began kicking at him, but his movement was slowed by the water. Percy moved as swiftly as he wanted.

"You can't beat me in my element," Percy chuckled as created a little bubble to surround the evil man. Jeff took a deep gulping breath and glared daggers at Percy.

"What are you going to do?" Jeff mocked from within his bubble, "you can't stop AIM."

"We've stopped bigger and more powerful people," Percy replied as he pressed his hand to his ear piece, _"I've got Jeff. What's happening up there?"_

"_Last of the enemy ships have been destroyed. On deck fighting still continuing. Keep an eye on Jeff," _Hill replied.

"You can never win," Jeff actually seemed to be making the most of his bubble space.

"I think we have," Percy replied in a distracted manner.

"I'm the only one who knows how to deactivate the Nanos in the other demigods. No one else knows. If I die all of your petty little demigods die as well," Jeff pulled a bronze dagger from his waistband.

Not just any bronze dagger. _Annabeth's_. That meant Annabeth was injured. In turn, Natasha must be as well because the red headed agent wouldn't just let Jeff go.

"You wouldn't kill yourself, you're much too egotistical," Percy's own hand itched to do something.

"Wrong," Jeff replied as he twirled the dagger, "I've started a legacy- my egos pretty overwhelmed. I have people lined up to take my spot. I die, someone else takes my place- continues the legacy. And when we succeed, they'll tell stories of me."

"Don't do it," Percy swam forward up against the bubble.

"Too late," Jeff slammed the dagger straight into his heart, and Percy barely heard the man's last words, "I'll see you in hell."

The bubble popped and Jeff's body began to sink towards the bottom. Percy swam down and grabbed him before rocketing up onto the deck. A couple of Agents yelled in surprise but Percy was more focused on Jeff. He yanked the dagger out of his chest and threw it aside before beginning to feel for any sign of life. The man could heal; surely he could survive a stab to the heart. How did it even kill him? He was a mortal, or well, as far as Percy could tell.

"Di immortals,"

**Okay, so notices. I have come up with two options for a pairing for Percy in the sequel (Not Percabeth, or NatashaxPercy.) I'm happy with the pairing but I'm not sure you guys will be so if you want to know (it might give spoilers) just say so in a review and I'll PM you.**


	23. Chapter 23

**I might have accidently overestimated the amount of chapters left…oopsy (I actually think this is the last one). In other news a pairing has been decided and you shall find out what one it is. It was really hard. I made a huge mistake and confused people with my final pairing choice, but after tallying the results it ended up 11 to 3. Many had both good and bad points, but I suppose I have to think long term… P.S sorry if the gods seem OOC.**

Within a day it seemed SHIELD was already back on its feet. They had been forced to move to their dry dock in Nevada for repairs, but that didn't really bother anybody. Agents had been sent out to raid AIMs master base. They were due back within the hour. Apparently the master base was located in Montana and spanned for a long time under the ground. Percy didn't really care about that though. He cared about finding the demigods and deactivating the Nanos. What if Jeff was right? What if only the dead leader could undo the damage that was done.

Unfortunately that was the least of his problems. Apparently the World Security Council wanted to know why Jeff had died- and seeing as Percy had been there when it happened; the blame had fallen on him. There was a bit of unease running around. Some said that he killed Jeff; others believed that Jeff killed himself. Percy honestly didn't care what the agents thought; it was what the council thought that was important. They ran the show. They had the power to do anything they want- including pushing Percy out of a job.

So Percy sat down on the bridge and pressed the button for the private screening. Instantly the walls appeared, blocking both interference from inside and out. Sitting at the large table, facing the even larger screens, Percy felt small. So he opted to stand. As he stood his hand brushed past the dagger on his belt. Annabeth had gotten a concussion and was currently waiting it out in the medical bay (what little ambrosia she had seemed to be helping) and Percy just hadn't found the time to wander down and hand back the cursed dagger. So instead he kept it tucked in his belt next to his sword and gun.

"Agent Jackson," about four different people popped up onto different screens. Their faces were shadowed, they wore suits, and did not sound impressed at all.

"Council," Percy didn't know what else to say.

"So you're the famed protégé of Agent Coulson?" one female asked, still not sounding impressed.

"I wouldn't say famed," Percy shrugged carelessly.

"You've taken down 2 terrorist rings. Beaten over twenty black arms deals. Stopped over fifteen assassinations. And yet you let the leader of AIM die on your watch," the lady first started out by complementing him, but then she turned it around to slap him straight in the face, "or, you killed him personally. Either way we lost a very valuable asset and someone has to take the blame."

"So, are we just here to play the blame game?" Percy put his hand on the dagger and drew it out. He held it up in the light and let the council see it, "Jeff, or his full name Jeffry Rechans, killed himself with this. He used a chemical formula to enhance his body and give himself strength and healing. He stabbed himself in the heart- a fatal blow for mortals, but as proven in cases such as the Wolverine, they are still able to heal. We theorise that because this dagger is made of celestial bronze, it stopped his abilities from doing their job. He must've known this. He had done his research. He could've grabbed a gun, but no, he grabbed the dagger knowing that it would make him stay dead. _He was happy to die_."

Percy chucked the dagger down on the table, ending his little speech. He had been wrongfully blamed for peoples deaths and he'd be damned if it happened again. He wouldn't allow himself to be beaten down by people who thought they were better than him.

"Your file shows that you have interesting abilities. Some of which are more powerful in the ocean. Weren't you strong enough to do something to stop it? He did die in the water, after all," the male pressed, "are you sure part of you just wanted for him to die?"

"You've read the file," Percy glared at the shadowed people on the screen, "you've seen what that man has done. Maybe he did hurt me personally, but orders are orders. He killed himself. I was too slow to react. End of story. Debate it all you want, but that's the honestly story."

"Thank you, Agent Jackson," the middle man said, "we'll consider in your statement in our evaluation. Please send in Director Fury."

Percy pressed the button on the controls before grabbing the dagger and sliding it neatly into his belt. Walking off to the centre of the bridge he gave a grim smile to Fury. The screens behind them had momentarily gone black as they waited for Fury to go and speak to them.

"They're a piece of work," Percy muttered as he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Preaching to the choir," Fury swiped away what he had been working on and turned around.

"Anything you need me to do, sir?" Percy questioned as Fury began to walk away.

Fury turned towards him; "you've done enough, Agent. Why don't you go get something to eat?"

"Yes, sir," Percy's stomach seemed to growl in agreement, "I just have a couple of things to take care of."

Percy began walking away, but Fury said suddenly; "I want paperwork by Monday. And I can tell if you got someone else to do it."

"Yes, sir," Percy chuckled slightly before walking off the bridge.

He walked down the halls towards the medical bay. He headed into the room were Natasha and Clint seemed to spend most of their time. Natasha was sporting a broken wrist (she was not happy about it). Percy paused for a moment outside the room. Natasha was sitting on the bed with Clint. Percy couldn't help but notice how Clint's hand rested on her thigh. The two super spies gazes seemed locked for the moment and Percy waited a couple of minutes before entering the room.

"Am I interrupting something?" he joked as he leant against the wall.

"If I say yes, will you leave?" Clint chucked as he stood. He had a row of butterfly stitches on his brow and a nice bruise on his cheek from his previous fight.

"Probably not," Percy joked lightly, "I'm going out soon to get something to eat. You guys want to come with?"

"As long as it's not shwarma, I'll go," Natasha said as she brushed a stray lock of red hair behind her ear, "that was horrible."

Percy rolled his eyes, "I'll meet you down by the security check point in twenty."

"How did the council go?" Clint questioned suddenly.

"Idiots wouldn't know an honest answer if it hit them in the face," Percy chuckled as he pushed off the wall.

"Sounds like them," Natasha commented.

Percy gave a smile before walking further down the hall. As he turned he came face to face with Nico. Sending his cousin a wary smile he held up his hands in defence.

"You still mad at me?" Percy questioned.

"No," Nico said as he twisted his skull ring, "just don't go running off by yourself again."

"What? Is Nico actually caring for somebody?" Percy joked as he stepped away, "what have you done with the real Nico?"

"Shut up," Nico cracked a smile.

"We're going to eat in twenty. Meet by the first security checkpoint down on the ground," Percy left again. For some reason he felt in high spirits. Maybe it was the prospect of food. Or maybe it was because he knew he could get back to normal SHIELD work now.

He was even in high spirits when he knocked on the door of Annabeth's medical room. He would return the knife, then leave as quickly as possible to get changed.

"Come in," Percy heard Annabeth say from the other side.

Annabeth was sitting on the bed flicking and using her laptop. Her hair was up in a messy bun, her clothes were dishevelled, and a long row of butterfly stiches rested against her hairline. She gazed up from the computer and caught sight of Percy. She said quickly to the computer, _"I'll Skype you later, Harry."_

Percy figured Harry must've been the one he'd seen at the diner with her. Shrugging the thought away he drew the dagger from his belt and flipped it so the handle was facing towards Annabeth; "you can have it back now."

"Thanks," Annabeth took the dagger and put it on the bed.

Percy just nodded and turned to leave, his hand resting on the pummel of his sword. He was at the door when Annabeth suddenly spoke up. Her voice was so soft that Percy hardly heard it.

"I'm sorry,"

Percy turned around in surprise, brow furrowing. Had she just apologised?

"I was wrong," Annabeth continued, "I shouldn't have gotten mad at you…and don't look at me that way. It's hard enough."

Percy wondered what his face must've looked like. Either way he slipped on a cool mask and dug his hands into his pocket. He had been waiting for her to apologise. For five years he had waited. And now that she had, he had no idea what to do. He stared at her as she continued to talk, rushing the words out.

"I was just so made because I trusted you and then you betrayed me like Luke. But now I see you didn't have a choice and how horrible it must've been. I'm sorry," she repeated. She seemed extremely embarrassed. After all, she was supposed to be always right.

"I can't say I forgive you," Percy looked into her grey eyes, "but we can at least act civil. Right?"

"Yeah," Annabeth seemed slightly disappointed but she still offered a smile.

"I best be going," Percy said a bit awkwardly as he jerked a thumb towards the door. As he walked backwards his scabbard caught on the door and jarred him backwards. Annabeth let out a short bit of laughter.

Percy began walking towards his room, suddenly feeling a whole lot lighter. Annabeth had apologised (she wasn't fully forgiven), he was going to get some edible food, and he would be able to laze around his apartment for a couple of days while SHIELD did a follow up clean.

His phone suddenly buzzed and he saw he got a message from an unknown number. Opening it he almost recoiled away from the image of a very happy looking Stark. The message below read _we can deactivate the Nanos to make them dormant in the bodies. You owe me a steak dinner_.

For a moment he wondered why he owed Stark a steak dinner. Then he was faced with the fact Stark had his phone number. And then it hit him that they could deal with the effected Demigods. He smiled at his phone. Everything felt like it was falling into the right place.

It seemed the universe decided he was too happy though.

He felt a warm breeze suddenly wash over him. He gazed around, but he was blinded by the white light that enveloped him. Instantly he pulled out his sword and gun. As the light faded Percy found himself somewhere completely different. Percy was crouched in a fighting position, gun held in front and sword angled behind him. When Percy saw where he was though, he froze. The room made Grand Central Station look small; it was filled with a myriad of different thrones, gods and archaic designs.

Percy stopped dead. Yep, the universe must hate him. He gazed around at the faces of the twelve Olympian gods. All present and all looking rather….geez, he couldn't even describe what their emotions looked like. They were so mixed, different and out there it was hard to remember that theses actually were the pantheon gods.

"Put the weapons away, Perseus," Zeus spoke from his throne. The king of the gods look the same as always. Pinstriped suit, nice near beard, and a cold hard glare.

"It's Percy," the Agent said on instinct as he straightened up and clicked the safety back on his gun. Putting it in the holster he then took his time sliding his sword back into its scabbard. "Just, Percy."

"Are you sure you wouldn't prefer Agent Jackson?" Aphrodite raised a perfect eyebrow, "I must say I do love a man with rank."

Percy didn't fear the gods anymore. So he openly rolled his eyes and sighed. He needed to keep calm and collected. The gods couldn't hurt him anymore than they already had. So he stood tall and proud. He looked each god in the eye before answering.

"You can call me Agent Jackson if you want. I am technically off the clock," Percy gripped the pummel of his sword.

"I see your attitude hasn't improved much," Hera harrumphed from her throne

Percy could've retorted with a lot of witty comebacks, but when he caught sight of Hestia's face he paused. Hestia was shaking her head minutely as she tended to the hearth. It was like she was warning him to hold his tongue. He took a deep breath and gazed up at Zeus- not daring to look at his father.

"Is there a reason I'm here?" Percy remained cool.

"We realise that we have made…." The word seemed hard for the king of the gods to say, "….mistake."

Percy remained quiet.

"Lord Hermes has pleaded your case rather incessantly. And after taking a look we have concluded the council's movement was wrong," Poseidon continued in the place of his brother, "we want to remove all charges."

Percy suddenly felt a familiar chill run up his back. He froze again-waiting for the burning sensation that was sure to follow- but instead he felt as if a nice summers breeze had just caressed his back. He stretched his back a little bit, trying to feel the difference.

"We hope to see you on the side of the gods once more," Zeus finished (not really looking at all happy about anything)

"Speak for yourself," Ares muttered from his throne.

There was a bit of silence, and Percy took advantage of it to think. Did Zeus think that was all it took? A simple stated fact? Allowing him to enter sacred grounds? To enter camp? The king of the gods hadn't even apologised. Sure, he had admitted he'd made a mistake, but he hadn't apologised. And now it sounded like Percy was expected to as they say. It just wasn't that easy.

"You're dismissed."

"What?" Percy said so suddenly he even shocked himself, "I'm dismissed? That's it?"

"Is there something else you'd like to discuss?" Zeus' black eyebrows drew together.

"You kicked me out of my home. Branded me. Made me lose everything that every meant anything to me and all you can say is that 'you made a mistake'?" Percy's wall of anger cracked a little.

"What else do you expect us to say, punk?" Ares questioned as he tapped his fingers against his throne.

It wasn't like he could tell the gods to apologise. They weren't four year olds. Instead he just turned on his heel and began walking out. When he reached the large doors he turned and said,

"I won't fight with you, for you, or against you. You've lost your chance," Percy walked out of the newly opened doors and out into Olympus.

He went straight for the elevator. He didn't marvel at the city or its citizens. He was too caught up in his thoughts. He had basically said _F-you _to the gods. Percy oddly didn't feel bad though. He would not go back to them after what they did. The way they abandoned him and left him for dead. Hell- even before they'd cast him out they hadn't really cared for the demigods. They'd made him fight a war, go on quests for their things- it was as if the whole world revolved around them (Percy supposed he couldn't use that excuse on Apollo).

In the safety of the elevator he tucked his gun into the back of his waistband. Mist wouldn't hide the gun, but it would hide the sword. Once on the ground level he pulled out his phone and called Natasha. He quickly explained how he wouldn't be able to make it (Natasha took it all in her stride- as she always did).

So now he was stuck in New York. He would have to drive out to Las Vegas tomorrow- or get a pardon from Fury. He walked to his apartment and set all of his things down towards heading into the bathroom. Stripping off his shirt and jacket he face his back towards the mirror and craned his head around to see.

His back was perfectly smooth. No marks, no scars, not a single mark. The skin was not as tanned as it had been before the brand, but that didn't matter to Percy. He could work out without having to wear sleeved shirts. He could change shirts before and after missions easily. He didn't have to be afraid of someone seeing and questioning it. It was amazing.

"Impressive,"

Percy jumped slightly, but relaced when he saw Hermes in the reflection. He turned around and chucked on a shirt before addressing the god.

"They didn't seem impressed," Percy leant against the sink and smiled.

"Who cares about them?" Hermes laughed a little. Outside rain began to pour down, "you did well."

"I wouldn't have made such a fuss if they'd just apologised," Percy crossed his arms over his chest.

Thunder boom loudly outside; "you know us Greeks. We never apologise," Hermes gazed up at the ceiling, "I best be going."

Hermes gave Percy a little smile, "thank you." He said. Then the god of messengers disappeared without a sound.

Percy ran a hand through his hair. "Coffee," he said to himself, "I need coffee."

Chucking on his riding gear and putting his gun in an ankle holster he headed out into the heavy rain. The poor New Yorkers had been caught unaware and scrambled around trying to find shelter in alcoves or under newspapers. Percy zipped through the streets skilfully, heading for his favourite little diner. As he zoomed into his parking spot though he brought up a wave of water from an indent in the road. The end product was a thoroughly soaked woman.

"Today is just not my day," the women said to herself as she gazed down at her wet clothes in dismay. She had previously been sheltered under an umbrella.

Percy turned off his bike quickly and got off. Taking his helmet off he shook out his hair and gazed apologetically at the women.

"I am so sorry," he said as he hurried to put a wheel lock on his bike.

The women looked him up and down suddenly. Percy wished the women would just say 'its okay' so he could head into the café and get dry (not like he could appear dry after being out in the rain). Her gaze lifted to his face and while she finished her impression, he started his. She had to be around 22, with chocolate brown hair, a kind, open face and black glasses.

"It's okay," she said finally "accidents happen, right?"

"Yeah," Percy moved under the entry alcove, "you going in?"

The women nodded and entered, putting her umbrella away as she did so. Percy followed behind her and went to the counter. Ordering a coffee and a bacon burger waited with anticipation for the food.

"Do I get to know your name? Or do I have to call you 'the jackass who soaked me with water'?" the women came up to the counter as she ordered her own coffee.

"Percy Jackson," he offered a small smile.

"Darcy Lewis," she replied. Out of the rain Percy got a chance to hear that she didn't have a New Yorker accent. Her voice was more soft spoken and sounded perhaps from one of western states.

"I've heard that name before," Percy said truthfully as he rubbed his cold arms.

"I doubt it. You don't get much recognition for political science," Darcy replied as she to wrapped her arms around herself.

"There's no science in politics," Percy scoffed. Why not make light conversation while he waited for his coffee? What could the harm be?

"And what makes you believe that?" She questioned as she removed her glasses and tucked them away.

"I work for the government. I know politicians inside and out. Whoever has the biggest gun wins," Percy accepted the coffee he was offered and had a big mouthful.

Surprisingly the brunette let out a chime of laughter; "I suppose I can't disagree with you there."

The burger was slid across the bar and Percy smiled brightly at it.

"That looks like a good burger," Darcy commented.

"The burgers here are great," Percy nodded in agreement as he picked the plate up.

"Good, because I'm starved," Darcy suddenly took the plate and sat down in a free booth. Percy stood surprised for a moment before standing at the end of the table. Darcy gazed up surprised, "what? You can't soak a girl to the bone then not expect to have to repay her. These are expensive jeans."

Percy sat down on the other side of the booth and tried to take in the situation. He looked at the female in front of him once more before picking a chip off the burger plate.

"So, what brings you to New York?" he questioned.

Maybe the universe was acting in his favour again.

**Really sucky chapter. I've never been good with endings. Yes, this means it is the ending! Sorry, I know its stupid and anticlimactic but….oh well. Onto the sequel! **


End file.
